


The Runaway

by go_ne



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series), Teen Titans (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-17 01:31:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15450396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/go_ne/pseuds/go_ne
Summary: He was a peasant farm boy. She was a runaway who didn't even know how to be a proper runaway. Together, they were going to find the princess. AU.





	1. Chapter 1

The Runaway

* * *

_He was a peasant farm boy. She was a runaway who didn't even know how to be a proper runaway. Together, they were going to find the princess._

* * *

They were planning to barter her off as a wife - 'they' being her parents. She was going to be the bridge. She was going to be the reason her family's name would continue to flourish. She was going to make them rich. Rich- _er_. She was going to make them proud.

And she was going to have _none_ of it.

Perhaps it was all of the books and novels that she read. Maybe it was even a longing that was finally reaching out to her from the bottom of her heart, but she was not going to allow herself to be condemned to the same fate of her mother and the women around her. She was not going to stay quiet in order to please them. She was not going to steal her own heart away in order to satisfy them. Even if she did not expect to marry for love like those swooning women in her books, she was _not_ about to allow herself to be _bartered_.

Contrary to the popular belief of the land and among her people, she, a woman, was not a toy. She, a woman, was not a thing to be owned or possessed. Yes, she was a woman, but she was also a person.

**_._ **

"Richard, did you hear? The princess disappeared."

Richard's teeth stopped in his apple, mid-bite, as he met Garfield's eyes. Then, he finished his bite with a resounding crunch. "What do you mean she _disappeared_?" he asked, his cheek round from the apple slice. "People can't just disappear, especially not royalty. Aren't those people supposed to be followed by guards even when they go take a piss?"

"Language, Richard," his mother tutted behind him from the kitchen.

The corner of his mouth curved up a bit in apology as Victor laughed. "That girl did it and there's no evidence of a kidnapping or a struggle. She disappeared in the middle of the night."

Richard shook his head with a scowl as he took another bite of his apple. That could only mean one thing. "She ran away. Spoiled brat. Why the hell would she just up and leave when she's got it good?"

Once again, his mother tutted, albeit much louder. "I swear, you got that mouth from your father."

"I've heard that she's witty," Garfield commented offhandedly as he went rummaging through his pockets. "She probably told the guards a riddle and left while they tried to figure it out."

Victor continued a bit somberly. "You never know what could have driven her away. Palace life sounds good, but we don't know what really goes on deep within those walls and corridors. The little lady probably had it worse than we do."

Richard's eyes narrowed at Victor's insinuation. Then, he looked around the dingy cottage that he and his mother lived in. He had _been_ living in that dingy cottage with his mother since he was born and to this day, even after his father had passed.

He looked down at his clothes. Then, he met Victor's eyes.

Victor rolled his eyes. "I meant internally. The little lady's probably got it worse than we do _internally_. Either way, she's brave and she's got courage that's almost as sharp as her wit. I know I couldn't do it."

"Aha!" Garfield exclaimed. He took his fist out of his pocket, only to unfurl it and reveal a balled up scroll sitting in his palm. Quickly, he unrolled the ball, smoothing it over along the edge of the table before he stood to hold it out in front of them.

Richard's mother looked up at that. She studied the crumpled and wrinkled paper before she set her supplies down. "What does that say?"

"I'm particularly pleased that _you've_ asked," Garfield began with a wink in her direction. "And may I say that you're looking quite ravishing this morning? Why, you're practically glowing! If it wasn't for the age difference, I'm sure that I would have been Richard's father." He tapped his finger on his chin contemplatively. "Although, I'm not too fond of the name ' _Richard_ '-"

"Damn it, Gar!" Richard exclaimed.

"Richard, that mouth!"

"Stop flirting with my mother!" He continued before he turned to his mother. There was a _smile_ on her face. "And stop provoking him!"

His mother shrugged, her smile growing coy.

When Richard began muttering under his breath, Victor chuckled before he began reading the scroll. "Princess Raven, sole daughter of the royal family, has gone missing. Reward for her return is thirty... Thirty pounds of gold and ten pounds of silver," he finished in awe.

"That's a lot of money," Garfield said after a while. He said it quietly, which was a testament of just _how much_ money that was. Normally, the boy couldn't ever shut up, much less speak quietly.

The entire cottage was silent, save for the kettle bubbling and the sounds of the people outside. They all knew how much money that was. They all knew what they could do with that much money. But, they also knew that there would be others searching for the girl, as well. As hard as it may have been to believe in these hard times, they weren't the only ones struggling to make ends meet.

Richard observed the looks on his friend's faces, then he looked to his mother. He looked at her clothes, the kitchen, and the dingy cottage that they were _still_ living in. This was his mother. She deserved better. She deserved to live the way that spoiled princess took for granted. His mother was the one who deserved to be spoiled.

"Did they give a physical description on that thing?"

He was going to find that spoiled brat.

_**.** _

According to the description, the princess was pale skinned and had violet eyes. Pale skin was not strange in the kingdom and neither was a violet eye color. However, what was strange was the color of her hair. It was also violet, matching the color of her eyes. There were not many people walking around with violet colored hair in the kingdom, and with good reason. After all, violet colored hair was the staple of the royal family, a strong gene that was inherited and passed down from generation to generation.

She was beautiful. At least, this was what people told him when he asked around.

"Oh!" the old merchant exclaimed as he filled the basket with fruits. "The princess is an angel among men!"

Richard stumbled forward when a man bumped into him, pushing past him with his own basket in hand. The marketplace was busy today, but this didn't come as a surprise to him. It was bustling with people, mostly men, which meant that they were also preparing to search for the princess. "You've seen her before?"

The merchant nodded with a wistful smile. "Aye. I _met_ her and even spoke to her for a short time. A sweet girl, she is, and a sharp contrast to the royal family stereotypes. She's a smart one."

Victor's words rang in his head. "Witty, too, huh? Sharp wit?"

The merchant raised a brow. "Hey," he said with a wavering voice and finger, both shaking in suspicion. "I thought you said that you've never met her."

"I haven't," Richard responded, which wasn't a lie. He had never even cared to converse about the girl before this whole debacle. "I'm just going by what my friends tell me."

The merchant nodded. "I do pity the girl. There was a smile on her face, but she didn't look very happy when I met her. Who knows?" he began with a chipper tone. "Maybe you'll be the one to find her and fall in love!"

Richard's face contorted in disgust. "She left her cushy life. I'm just going to find her and get that money. All of it. I would never fall in love with such a spoiled brat."

The merchant tutted. "Careful. The gods can hear," he warned as he placed an orange into the full basket. The orange rolled over the other fruits and fell to the ground, bouncing before rolling under the table.

Before the old man could say anything, Richard held a hand up with a polite smile. "I'll get it." So, he placed the basket onto the table and crouched down, ducking underneath the table and the cloth, only to come face to face with a girl. A pretty one. Actually, that may have been a _serious_ understatement. "What are you doing under-"

Immediately, her hand was over his mouth, halting his question and muffling his obscenities. "Quiet," she hushed him, her voice raspy and husky. "I can't be found."

Richard studied her. She had violet eyes, but once again, that wasn't strange in the kingdom. The staple was missing. Her hair was jet black and pulled back into a tight bun, the dark color being a stark but alluring contrast against her pale skin. This wasn't her. So, he nodded and she removed her hand from over his mouth with a sigh.

"What are you doing under the table?" he asked.

"What are _you_ doing under the table?" she returned.

He was _not_ about to do this. He didn't care how good looking (another understatement) she was. "I dropped my orange," he said as he picked it up and waved it.

She watched the orange in his hand before meeting his eyes. Then, she released another sigh. "I stole something and I don't want to get caught."

It was hard to believe that someone that beautiful ( _that_ was the word) was capable of stealing anything. "That's why you're under this table?" When she nodded, he finally sat down, crossing his legs. He needed to get comfortable for this. "Sorry, little lady, but I don't think that this is the proper hiding spot. You'll be stuck here for hours."

"My name is not little lady," she responded curtly. "And I know that," she said a bit exasperatedly. "I was just in a hurry and wasn't thinking straight. I've never stolen before."

That made sense. "What did you take?"

"Food," she began as she took her satchel and opened it for him, revealing the contents and food filling it up. "I was hungry and I have no money on me. I got desperate."

There was a barely visible frown on her face, but he saw it. "Did you run away? You look like a runaway." She may not have fit the description of the princess, but she definitely fit the description of a runaway. He had seen plenty runaways before, but he wasn't sure if they had been as beautiful as she was.

She crossed her arms, sitting up in contempt as her bun tapped the table. "Excuse you. Just what is _that_ supposed to mean?"

The emotion flaring in her eyes just made her look even more alluring. That didn't make her any less annoying. "That you look like a runaway. I didn't mean it as an insult."

She watched him for a few moments before she let out a breath and slumped back down. "I'm sorry. I've just been really on edge for a couple of days."

He nodded in understanding. "That's what no food does to you."

She blinked at him. Then, quickly, she returned the nod. "Right. No food."

He offered her a smile. "How long have you been away from home?"

"A couple of days," she responded. "I couldn't stay there anymore. I just," she sighed with a shake of her head. "I just don't know where to go. I mean, I'm _stealing_ food. I've never stolen _anything_ before!"

A chuckle escaped him at that before the old merchant tapped the table. "Young man!" he called out. "You haven't died down there, have you?"

"No," Richard answered, all the while keeping his gaze on the girl. "I'm coming up now."

They watched each other. He couldn't just leave her under this table. Something in him was telling him to help her. And for goodness' sake, she was a runaway who didn't even know how to be a _proper_ runaway. "I'm looking for the princess."

A single raise of her brow was the only change of expression on her face. "Are you? Is the search for the princess why this marketplace is so busy?"

"Yeah," he laughed out, scratching the back of his neck. She didn't look too impressed with him. Not that he cared. "There's a lot of money at stake."

As she nodded, she bit on her lip before releasing it. He couldn't help but to stare at her reddened and swollen lip. Luckily for him, she was looking off to the side. "What do you need the money for?"

When she looked to him, he met her eyes. "My mother. I want to take care of her."

Finally, there was a smile on her face. It was a small smile, but a smile nonetheless. "How noble of you."

Her smile cause one of his own to grow. "Would you like to come?"

She looked a bit taken back at his request. "Why?"

Honestly, he was taken back himself. He had literally just met the girl under a table because he dropped an orange. Actually, the reason behind his request probably lied within the smile she gave him. Nevertheless, he shrugged. "I can't exactly leave you under this table, can I? Plus, it'd be nice to have a little company."

Still, she looked taken aback. It didn't look like she was used to this type of hospitality and this only made him want to reach out to her even more. Before he could continue his sales pitch, she nodded.

His smile grew. "What's your name?"

"Rachel."

"Richard."

She seemed to be hesitating before she allowed herself to smile. Then, she bit on her lip as she looked to her satchel. "It's a lot. You won't let them catch me, will you?"

Once again, he was distracted by her lip before meeting her eyes. "I'll fight for you." He swore that the breath almost got knocked out of him when her smile grew.

_**.** _

It was a tent, a rather large one, he had purchased from the marketplace that was providing them with shelter the first night. There were two sides to the tent, but she wasn't in hers. She didn't want to sleep alone. Not out there, she told him. Of course, he didn't mind. Even if he had to sleep with her feet right in front of his face.

One thing was that they twitched every so often - her feet, that is.

She was quiet, but he understood. Once again, he had met her under a table in a marketplace while trying to find his orange before he impulsively invited her onto his journey to find a princess in order to collect the money so that he could take care of his mother. If he were in her position, he would be quiet and cautious as well. Actually, he wouldn't have even accepted his own invitation in the first place. It was dangerous to just up and leave with strangers. But, she was a runaway who was attempting to escape her past. She was probably desperate and taking any chance she could.

Her foot twitched again.

Finally, after about a moment of wondering, he sat up on his forearms to look at her. She was laying on her stomach, reading a book with the lamp beside her. That must have been why she was so quiet. He couldn't see her face or the book, but from the way that her feet kept twitching, it must have been a pretty good book. "Hey, what are you-?"

Immediately, her hand shot out behind her as she shushed him, her feet dancing now. Honestly, it was a bit dramatic, but she was a girl.

Shortly after, she finally sat up and placed her book in her lap. She had let her hair down from that tight bun, complaining that she could never sleep with it tied up. It was long, much longer than he had expected it to be, touching the ground and piling up a bit at her sides and behind her even as she sat down. He wasn't particular about hair lengths, but she was close to making him grow biased. To say that he was mesmerized was yet another understatement he had encountered since meeting her.

She cocked her head to the side with expectancy, a bit of her hair spilling into her lap. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to interrupt people when they're reading?"

However quiet she may have been, her mouth made up for it. "What are you reading?"

She blinked before her brows furrowed. "You want to know what I'm reading?"

Geez, wasn't this girl used to anyone paying any attention to her? He could show her just how much attention he was capable of giving her. Her, specifically. But, those were his hormones speaking. So, he nodded.

She watched him suspiciously before she looked to her book. She seemed to be debating something. Then, she quietly spoke. " _'Tales & Fables'. _It's a very good book. Actually, it's a book of stories," she said cautiously. Hesitantly, she added, "Would you like me to read you one?"

He was about to decline and tell her that he didn't need to be read a bedtime story. But, then she looked up at him. She was trying to mask it, but he could see that tiny glimmer of hope floating around in those eyes, highlighted by the light of the lamp. It was a done deal after that. Once again, he nodded.

A smile grew onto her face and she let out a short, excited breath. She began flipping through the pages. "It's a very good book," she repeated hurriedly when she finally stopped at a page, the smile growing contagious and touching his own face as he watched her. "This one is one of my favorites."

So, he reclined onto his pillow and folded his hands behind his head. He didn't mind being read a bedtime story after all, especially if it was from her.

_**.** _

The next morning as they packed up and prepared to leave, she fixed her hair back up into the tight bun. Admittedly, she really should have cut it if she wanted to stay hidden, but she loved her hair and its length. She hated living at the palace, but they took good care of her hair.

She felt a tingling sensation on the back of her neck. "What?" she asked, not bothering to turn around.

"Nothing," he said suddenly. She had caught him off guard. Then, he cleared his throat. "You should leave your hair out. It's nice."

Her hair _was_ nice. She knew. It was long and thick, not a single wave or curl in sight before it stopped right beneath her backside. Typical princess hair. It was even more beautiful when it was violet, its natural color. She finished fixing her hair into the bun. It was heavy because of the length and density of her hair, but she was not taking any chances. Especially when she was traveling with him.

He was an intelligent one, that Richard boy was. As she read him her story, he kept interjecting, asking questions and piecing things together as the storyline progressed. It scared her. He was like a sleuth, a detective in the way that he analyzed things. She had only spent half a day and one night with him, but she had to admit that he made her a bit nervous. Not only was he curious about her, but he also had a brain - one that he used. He made her feel as if he would soon find her secret out and turn her in. In fact, if she wasn't with him, she was sure that he would have been the one to find her.

But, of course, she was smart as well and prided herself in this fact. This obviously worked in her favor - she could throw him off.

Honestly, she didn't even know why she accepted his proposal to travel with him. All she wanted to do was steal some food and hide under a table peacefully until an opening to escape showed itself. Then, an orange rolled in. Followed by a boy. Actually, he was a man - a handsome one. But, his eyes, as bright, and blue, and electric as they were, carried a certain kindness and welcomeness that called out to her. That was probably why she accepted his invitation.

Finally, she turned to face him. "As if I would ever allow a silly boy to tell me what to do."

A grin slid onto his face at that as he laughed. "Give a girl a compliment and _I'm_ the silly one." At that, he took his bag and mounted his steed. He reached a hand out to hike her up.

As she smiled, she took his hand and they began their journey.

 


	2. Chapter 2

The Runaway - Part II

* * *

_He was a peasant farm boy. She was a runaway who didn't even know how to be a proper runaway. Together, they were going to find the princess._

* * *

The first city that they traveled to was called Steel City. The city was crowded, to say the least, but this was to be expected. Due to the governor's close ties to the royal family and the city's success with trading, Steel was a hot spot for travelers, tourists, and traders alike. This was why he and Rachel were here. Richard guessed that the princess must have, at least, passed through.

She was a surprisingly elusive one, that princess was. But, he was just fine with this because he wanted to be the one to find her and he, most certainly, would be. Richard needed that money. However, he had to admit that although the search was extensive and time consuming, it was also a bit more (a _lot_ more) enjoyable with Rachel by his side.

Richard really had not thought it all through. When he offered her the opportunity to travel with him, he was just going on a whim. He was just trying to be nice. He didn't expect to make a friend. He also didn't expect to be so conflicted. What was he going to do with her if did end up finding the princess? What was he going to do with her if he didn't? He couldn't exactly bring a runaway back home to his mother, but he couldn't leave her behind either.

Nevertheless, he couldn't deny that Rachel was just as intriguing as she was beautiful. But, she was also incredibly private. Incredible private-ness that he had now discovered wasn't _actually_ private-ness. Rachel just wasn't used to having people pay attention to her.

He could tell when she first read to him, but he didn't realize how deep it was until they actually began their search. It showed in the way that her eyes widened, however minuscule the action was, whenever he asked for her opinion on something. There was always hesitation before she answered him, but the answer was always posed as a question, as if she wasn't sure if he would approve. She always seemed surprised when he expressed an interest in her mind. Sometimes, she would even make a move to look behind her to see if she was the one that he was speaking to.

Needless to say, this bothered him. Immensely. Why wouldn't anyone want to delve deeper into that mind of hers? Admittedly, she was a little snarky and her sarcasm had a bit of a bite to it, but that all added to the charm. She had a beautiful mind, as prissy as that may have sounded.

But, it wasn't like he was saying this all out loud.

So, he would do it.

Pay attention to her, that is.

"If you were a princess," he began as he directed his steed into the direction and flow of the crowd. "Where would you go?"

Sitting on the horse, her brows furrowed a bit. "I wouldn't go far from home," she began tentatively. There was a slight pause, as if she was waiting for him to interrupt. When he didn't say anything, she looked to him. "I mean, princesses aren't allowed to leave their palaces much, are they? It's not like they have an extensive knowledge of the area around them, right?"

She was brilliant. "You tell me this _after_ we leave the capital city?"

"You didn't _ask_ me when we were in the capital city."

There that charm went.

"But, she could be here. I don't doubt it," she continued with a bit of a smile that made one of his own grow. "I'm quite surprised that she's actually been able to stay hidden for so long."

"Same here." It was hitting him how much he liked to hear her speak and express her mind. When she swallowed a bit and looked away, he realized that he had been staring. The smile grew a bit and he looked off as well to continue directing his steed. "Why would she run away, anyway? I mean, she's got it made in that huge palace. All the food she wants, lots of clothes, and money. She's a spoiled brat."

He could practically _hear_ her neck snap to look at him. "You don't know why she left. Don't just assume that she's a spoiled brat."

"She is a _brat_ ," he countered as he met her eyes, spitting the word out as if it put a foul taste on his tongue. "My mother would love and appreciate everything that princess took for granted."

They watched each other for a moment before she looked away, once again. "Silly boy," she muttered. She had quickly gotten into the habit of calling him that. He wasn't exactly sure how to feel about it. "Who knows what went on within those palace walls?"

Victor's words rang in his head. When one person defended that princess, it was ignorable. But, when two people defended her, he couldn't deny that he felt a bit insensitive, especially when that second person was a runaway who could probably relate to the princess. "My friend says that the princess is brave with courage that's almost as sharp as her wit."

She didn't look at him, but she did speak after a moment. "What is their name?"

"Victor."

"Victor," she repeated, tasting the word on her tongue. "One who defeats an enemy or opponent in battle, game, or competition. A conqueror."

Gods, he loved hearing her speak.

Then, she added a bit quietly. "The name fits him."

It did fit Victor. It fit Victor very well, actually. With a short smile and a shake of his head, Richard directed them deeper into the city of Steel.

_**.** _

He was frustrated. She could tell. It was almost hilarious, but she never allowed herself to laugh at his annoyance.

They had just finished interrogating an old librarian. The woman was very kind, but did not have the answers that they ( _Richard_ ) were looking for. Very patiently, because she was sure to have accumulated a great amount of patience after having dealt with previous interrogators all day, the old woman told them that there were no signs of the princess anywhere near the library. She knew this because she had _been_ getting interrogated ever since the decree of the missing girl had been issued throughout the land.

So, with solemn nods, they left the library.

Now, Richard sat on a bar stool with his elbows perched up onto the counter and his face in his hands. The boy looked like the poster child for dejection. The boy had _been_ looking like the poster child for dejection ever since they left that library, which was why she took him to a pub that she spotted. He didn't even order anything, but preferred to just sit there and pout.

It was then that she actually snorted.

Men were all the same, no matter the age.

Honestly, she really did feel bad for him. He had quickly become a friend of hers, but she chalked it up to him being her only companion at the moment. It was also attributed to his blatant interest in her mind. She wasn't used to it, but it was not unappreciated. This sudden friendship was unexpected, but, once again, it was not unappreciated. It was not very often that she made genuine friends who weren't interested in her name, but in her. Then again, he didn't even know her real name.

When he began tugging at his hair, she felt her heart drop.

She sighed.

Of course, _she_ was feeling bad for the one who was searching for her in order to turn her in for money. Nevertheless, she felt the need to cheer him up. Hence, the pub she was sitting in. Obviously, she had never been to one as this was not the place for a princess to be, but she didn't mind sitting in a dirty pub to cheer up the boy who had saved her from living under a table.

"Cheer up, Richard. You'll find her." No, he would not. "Don't let this discourage you."

The bartender, a big and burly man, came around to them, wiping the counter down. He nodded to Raven. "Aye," he greeted with a thick Irish accent. "What's his problem?"

"We're searching for the princess," she answered. "We just left the library and the librarian told us that there were no signs of her anywhere near here."

The bartender nodded. "The old woman ain't lying to ya. If that princess did pass through here, she'll be long gone by now. But, the lass is good at hiding. I wouldn't be surprised if she was shacking it up in this very city."

A smile tugged at Raven's lips.

Then, he watched Richard suspiciously when the young man began tugging at his hair. "Buck up, me boyo. All yer moping is sending shivers down me spine. It's making me uncomfortable."

Raven couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her.

"Very funny." His response was muffled. Finally, he removed his face from his hands and the brightness, transparency, and electricity of his blue eyes caught her off-guard. He didn't notice her swallow. "Why don't we just dye your hair violet and send you off to the palace? Apparently, that princess has got hair past her ass-"

"Honestly, Richard, that mouth."

"And so do you," he continued undeterred. "You'd be taken care of over there and I'd get my money. I doubt they'd spot the difference."

If only he knew how well his plan would work. Nevertheless, she rolled her eyes. "Very funny."

When Richard smiled a bit, her stomach turned and the bartender gave a sigh of relief. "That's much better. Thought I'd have to kick you out 'til you stopped all yer pouting. Now," he said as he took out a pen and paper. "What'll you be having today?"

_**.** _

"Why did you leave?" he would ask sometimes.

"Silly boy," she would always answer. "What kind of question is that to ask a runaway?"

Really, it wasn't an answer, at all. But, it always got a smile out of him. One night, however, she did answer him.

_**.** _

While the days were set up and scheduled to search for the princess, nights were always for talking. Their conversations had a wide range - sometimes they were silly and sometimes they were serious. One thing that remained constant was Richard's intent to have her know that he was interested in her mind. Once again, he did not like the fact that she was not used to having people ask her what she thought and for her opinions about anything. So, every night as they prepared to sleep, with her feet beside his face and the tips of her hair grazing his thigh, he always made sure to get into her head and draw her into a conversation.

"Why did you leave?" he asked one night.

"Silly boy."

He rolled his eyes.

"I believe that you've asked me this question many times before," she continued with that raspy voice of hers.

" _Rachel_."

" _Richard_." Somehow, he knew that she was smiling. There was a pleasant pause before she added, "I was unhappy."

Richard blinked at the tent's ceiling, surprised that she actually answered him. It wasn't much of an answer, but it was something. "Don't you miss your family? Don't you miss your friends?"

Her foot did a little dance. "I didn't have many friends."

"Not many," he said as he watched her foot halt. "But, you did have them."

Her foot remained still, but she did release an exasperated sigh. That made him smile a bit. "I had one friend."

She was surprisingly open tonight, he observed. Obviously, he was going to take advantage of that. "What was their name?"

"Her name is Star. She's my best friend," she responded quietly, strong hints of reminiscence floating in her voice. "She's beautiful."

"More beautiful than you?"

"Even more."

Richard sat up, reclining onto his hands to watch her. Her hair, long and thick as it was created a dark halo underneath her and violet eyes were highlighted by that lamp beside her. She always slept with the lamp because she liked to read before she slept. "I doubt that."

Finally, a scoff escaped her, but there was a smile on her face. She looked off to the side. "Are you normally this flirtatious?"

A smile of his own grew as he shook his head. "No." And this was the truth.

"As I was saying," she declared with a roll of her eyes that made him chuckle. "Star is beautiful - an absolute reflection of her name. No one can deny that she is outwardly beautiful, but her spirit shines through and makes her glow."

His smile softened a bit. "You sound like you're telling a story."

This seemed to strike a chord with her. Briefly, she met his eyes before she looked up at the tent's ceiling. "She always called me out on that. Apparently, I read so much that sometimes I do sound like a book. But, I only ever read so much because I didn't want to deal with it all." Quietly, she added. "An escape until leaving was the final-" She cut herself off, nervously chewing on her lip. "I miss her."

Obviously, she had not meant to tell him all of that. But, he didn't want her to think that she had any reason to hide. They were quiet for a moment before he reached for her satchel and began rummaging through it. She didn't say anything. Instead, she sat up to watch him until he found her book and held it out.

"Would you like to read me a story?" he asked because he hated to see her like that. "Maybe that'll make you feel better."

She seemed to be debating her decision before she nodded and took the book. He could not deny the slight flip his stomach did when that spark in her eyes dance.

This didn't sit well with him. At all.

See, over the course of their search and travels, however short it was since it had just begun, the two had grown incredibly close, but this was to be expected. After all, their entire friendship had become rooted in the mere fact that they only had each other and would continue to only have each other for the next few months until the princess was found. Despite this fact, Richard couldn't deny that through this friendship, he had grown a bit of an affection for Rachel. Affections that, in turn and in a short amount of time, grew and flourished into genuine feelings. A crush.

Of course, he tried to ignore it all. _Tried_ being the keyword because it really was hard to ignore feelings for someone like _her_. But, he continued to try because she was his friend, and a runaway who was attempting to escape her home life. So, he would not mar the dynamic they had.

But, _hell_ , was it hard.

_**.** _

"And I have a friend named Garfield. He's a good guy, but the boy flirts like hell-"

"Language, Richard-"

"-Especially with my mother."

"Is your mother beautiful?"

"Where do you think I got these gorgeous baby blues from?"

A snort. "If your mother is beautiful, you can't blame him for flirting with her, no matter how old he may be."

"If Gar thinks that I would ever accept that shitty excuse-"

"Richard, that mouth!"

"Rachel, you sound like my mother."

A pleasant pause.

"You know, he would like you, Gar would. He likes pretty girls. You could definitely distract him from my mother - without a doubt. You should come home with me."

"Do you even know when you're flirting?"

"Not around you."

"Let's look over there."

He didn't miss that growing blush.

_**.** _

Raven looked forward to the night time. Not only because she didn't want to be out all day searching for _herself_ , but because she liked talking to him and having someone listen to her. It was strange to be able to speak so candidly with someone and not be interrupted. It was even stranger to have that someone be so interested in her mind. She was not used to it, at all. In fact, the only time anyone would ever, truly be interested in what she thought was when it had to do with a dress she had to wear. Even then, her opinions were discarded. Even with Star, Raven couldn't speak too much for fear of gossip. Star would never gossip, but one could never be too sure with nobles. But, it wasn't like that with him.

He was surprised the night that she first opened up to him, she could tell. But, she thought that it was only fair. After all, he spoke so openly about his own life, so she could do the same without giving herself away. Once again, she was smart and prided herself in this.

Tonight, the topic was 'parents'. She had no desire to speak of any of her parents and he could tell. So, he took over and took to speaking of his mother. She could see that he was attempting to make it all easy for her; he was her friend, and for that, she was grateful.

Apparently, Richard's mother was so gorgeous that _not only_ did she steal the hearts of the young, but she _also_ held the record for stopping the most hearts in the senior citizen's community, both male _and_ female, _and_ was the _main_ cause of cardiac arrests in the town.

She laughed at that.

It was nice to hear him speak so candidly about his life. His eyes, bright, blue, and electric as they were, seemed to shine brighter, grow bluer, and become even more electric. A sight to behold.

"What about your father?" she asked. When he started a bit, she immediately regretted asking the question. It was obvious that she had grown unbearably comfortable with him. 'Unbearably' because it was absolutely _irritating_ just how comfortable she had grown with a boy she had met just one month ago who was searching for her in order to turn her in for money.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

She debated telling him that it was nothing, but he would snuff her lie out. "Your father," she said tentatively before she began rambling. Gods, she never rambled, but she was doing it now. "It's just that you never speak about him. It's always your mother and your friends, sometimes the family and the people in your community." Then, she took a breath to calm herself down before she would be forced to resort to punching herself in the mouth. "I'm sorry."

There was a pause that hung in the air. Normally, the pauses that hung between them were pleasant or just. This pause was pained.

Another apology sat at the tip of her tongue, ready to fall out before he spoke. "He died when I was thirteen. He got sick and we didn't have the funds to take care of him."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

But, it _was_ her fault. Her family's fault. They never cared much for the poor, and here she was _bonding_ with him - a peasant farm boy. Ashamed, she broke their eye contact.

"Don't be sorry," he said, attempting to reiterate the fact that it was not her fault. She met his eyes, but this didn't alleviate her guilt. "My father was a good man. He was an even better husband," he added with a snort and a nostalgic smile as he looked off. "My mother loves flowers, so he would wake up before the sun was even up and go off into the forest or the woods, just to find a fresh flower for her to wake up to."

Raven sat up at that. "Every morning?"

"And it would be a different flower each day," he continued with a nod. "I never even knew that there were so many species of flowers, but he knew every single one. He picked every one of them for her just to see her smile."

It _sounded_ like a fairytale, but this was real. She never thought that people really went through all of that effort for others. She always thought those stories only ever existed in her books because it surely never existed in her world. She knew of _very_ few nobles who married for love. She wasn't even sure of her own parents.

"He loved her."

"From the day that he met her to the day that he died."

Raven swallowed because she knew that this was something she would never be able to experience. "That's beautiful."

Finally, he looked at her and as unbelievable as it was, his eyes were even brighter, bluer, and more electric. He studied her with those eyes and her stomach turned. "What?"

She was about to lie, but she knew that she couldn't. She hated the fact that she got close enough to this boy that he was able to read her face and voice so easily when even her own parents were not even able to do so. She wanted to tell him how unlikely and fake his story sounded. She wanted to tell him that it sounded like a dream come true. A fairytale.

She felt a bit uneasy under his gaze, but she didn't let it show. She was good at poker faces and making people think that she was okay. She was also very good at delving deep without _actually_ delving deep. She was a princess - all of these were her specialties.

But, she could not lie to this boy. Not only would he snuff her out, but her guilt would grow. He had just told her about his father; lying to him would be unfair.

"Who picks her flowers now?" she asked instead.

_"Gar."_ At that, he fell back into his pillow.

A laugh escaped her.

But, one night it became real - her growing comfortability with him, that is. That night, they weren't even in the tent, talking and preparing for sleep, with the two of them sharing stories or her reading to him. Instead, they were actually out in the town, taking in Steel's night life because he was feeling skittish and impulsive.

Of course, "Silly boy," was the first thing to come out of her mouth.

"Yeah, yeah. Tell me something I don't know," he muttered as he took her wrist into his hand. He didn't notice her face flush up. "Let's go."

Needless to say, the whole vibe of the entire night was everything that she wasn't used to.

There were people singing and dancing in the streets, barefooted on the dirtied, cracked, and uneven pavements. They played games and gambled with the biggest smiles and the most torn up looking clothes. Raven had never even seen nobles this happy. Yet these people, as poor and unfortunate as their monetary situations were, smiled, and laughed, and sang, and were happier than any of the richest royals or nobles that she knew, had ever seen, or met.

Beside her, Richard laughed along with the others when a street performer did a trick.

Honestly, she didn't understand it at first. How could they all be so joyous? It wasn't like they were drunk, and judging from how feeble and thin some of their statures were, they certainly didn't have a house full of food. But, the more that she watched them, taking in their ever growing smiles, the children dancing, the young mother bouncing a baby on her knee to the beat of the music, and the old man who placed a kiss onto his wife's hand before leading her into a dance, she understood.

And she loved it.

A pained, disturbed wail pierced the air. In one accord, the singing, music, and dancing stopped as they all searched for the source of that wail, that _pained_ and _disturbed_ wail.

A man carrying a child in his arms and clutching them to his chest stumbled in. A man of that size really shouldn't have been clutching onto his child like that - he would suffocate them.

Then, when the man fell to his knees, Raven saw the child's thin and limp arm dangling from his father's hold. Her heartbeat quickened. She was sure that it quickened almost tenfold.

"My son!" he gasped out, his face as pained and disturbed as that wail was, before he began speaking in his native tongue, his words fading into garbles as he hid his face in his son's chest.

Immediately, everyone began swarming the man and his child. The entire community, this mans _family_ began swarming him and his dead son, the nights festivities long gone and forgotten.

Raven blinked back the tears that shouldn't have even welled up in the first place. It wasn't like she knew the boy. Swallowing, she looked to Richard.

As if he could sense her question, he answered her. "He died because there was no food."

That explained why the boy was so thin. "You understand them?"

"A little."

She did remember him mentioning that his mother was a foreigner. But, why did he look so calm? And why wouldn't those tears stop welling up? She looked up, as if tilting her head back would force the tears back to where they came from. "Why are you so calm?"

"Children dying due to the lack of food is nothing new," he said. "I'm used to it."

That made her look at him. It was actually a feat in itself that she hadn't gotten whiplash the way that her neck snapped to look at him. "You're used to this," she deadpanned with a sniffle that sounded much too loud in her opinion. "You shouldn't be used to this."

"Nobody should be used to this," he said with a shrug before he tore his gaze from the scene to look at her. His face contorted with a look of worry and she was sure that it was because she had tears running down her face. "Hey, don't cry."

As if saying that was going to help the pain that she felt. As if saying that was going to alleviate all of the guilt that she felt. This was definitely a culture shock if she'd ever experienced one. Children were literally _dying_ in the streets due to the lack of food and here she was, the princess who ran away from a palace _full_ of food, being comforted by a peasant. The peasant who was searching for her to turn her in for money so that he could take care of his mother and provide a better life for her.

With a shake of her head and a sniffle, she covered her face. "I'm sorry. I don't even know why I'm crying."

She knew that he could tell that she was lying. So, she didn't fight it when he pulled her in for a hug. It didn't make sense to her how these people were so happy, dancing and singing in the streets when they had no food or weren't even sure if they would make it to see another day. _Children_ were _dying_ because there was no food and _Richard_ , her friend, was used to it.

The father's unintelligible blubbers made her stomach turn. "It's not fair."

He shook his head. "It isn't."

It was not fair. At all.

So, she started speaking. The words started to spew and spill out of her mouth. Verbal diarrhea.

"My parents were going to marry me off," she blurted out. "That's why I left."

His hold on her grew firm. "I'm sorry."

He was sorry, sorry for _her_ , and she was glad. She was glad that, for once, someone took her feelings into consideration. She was glad that he was pitying her. She wanted more of it. But, this was the peasant boy who was used to children dying from lack of food who was feeling bad for her. This was the boy who was used to children dying due to lack of food who was comforting her, the princess who ran away from a _palace_ full of food. That fact caused the guilt that was previously swarming her to completely engulf and envelope her entire being.

"Richard," she choked out with a gasp and a sniffle. "That man would have taken care of me. He had money. I'm a brat like that _stupid_ princess."

"Rachel," he sounded surprised. "You're not a brat-"

"I am," she said before the sobs overtook her. The only reason that they hadn't attracted any attention was because of that dead boy. They probably thought that they were mourning and that she was crying for him, but she wasn't. Raven was being a spoiled and selfish brat and shedding tears for herself instead of for that dead boy and for his grieving father. "I'm such a brat. We should dye my hair violet like you said and take me to the palace-"

"Rachel, I was joking-"

She wasn't. She would give up her freedom just to know that he and his mother would be taken care of. The brat that she was deserved to be shut off from society. "You'll get your money and I'll be taken care of-"

"Rachel," he interrupted, his voice as firm as his hold. "You're not a brat."

He meant it. The sincerity in his voice broke her heart because _he didn't know_ and soon, her cries were in tune with the father's.

The next morning, she woke up warm. She always did wake up warm, but this was a different warmth and from a different source. Slowly, she opened her eyes, only to come face to face with a sleeping Richard. There was a moment of tranquility that washed over her as she watched him, attempting to figure out how they got into this position; more importantly, how _she_ got into this position with _this_ handsome boy. Normally, she was facing his feet when she slept and woke up.

That was when everything that happened the other night came flooding back into her head.

_"I'm such a brat," she sobbed into his chest._

_"No, you're not," he said as he combed his fingers through her hair in an attempt to soothe her. "You're not a brat. You're not a brat, Rachel."_

This was dangerous. Not because she was afraid that he would find her out, but because she was growing too comfortable with him. Actually, she was _past_ growing _too_ close to him. She spilled her heart out to him and he held her as she slept. The boy could tell when she was lying, for goodness' sake. She was a princess - she was trained to lie professionally. Her own _parents,_ the ones who trained her in the art of lying, couldn't even tell when she was lying. Sometimes even _Star_ had trouble distinguishing a lie from her.

This was dangerous for them. This was dangerous for her heart and for his. It wasn't like she couldn't feel the attraction growing and rising between them. She felt it every morning when she woke up with his feet in front of her face. She felt it every night they spoke and he told her of his life, when he got her to speak of her own life, and whenever she read to him. She felt it every time those eyes grew brighter, bluer, and more electric. She felt it every time a foul word left that dirty mouth of his. She felt it every time he called her _Rachel_ and she wanted to correct him and tell him to call her _Raven_ instead.

She was completely aware and had entertained the foolish idea long enough. She didn't mind if she got hurt, but she would never be able to live with herself knowing that she was the reason that he got hurt.

Raven needed to get out of there. Immediately.

So, as gently and quietly as she could, she unwrapped his arms from around her, the sinking feeling of regret already filling her up. She took her satchel and crawled out of the tent and began to walk as quickly and quietly as she could without stirring the sleeping horse. She didn't have time to tie her hair up. He was an early riser, too. She could fix it up when she got far enough from him.

There was quiet ruffling, but she just assumed that it was the horse or maybe the wind hitting the tent.

"Rachel?"

Of course, it was him. "Hell," she muttered to herself before slapping a hand over her mouth. Since when did she _swear_? _She_ never swore. Princesses were _not_ supposed to swear. It was obvious that he had already rubbed off on her.

She quickened her pace.

"Wait, Rachel!" he called out. "Where are you going?"

He sounded tired. And desperate. So, she stopped in her tracks and with a huff, she turned around to face him. His hair was all over the place and he had an indentation mark on one of his red cheeks. He was absolutely handsome.

And at risk.

He took a cautious step forward. "Were you running away again?"

Honestly, the boy's sleuthing skills were unparalleled, not that she didn't make it all obvious. Nevertheless, she crossed her arms, holding her chin up in defiance. "What makes you say that?"

He scoffed. "Your track record doesn't exactly speak well of you."

Infuriating boy. She bit her tongue before she spoke. "I was just going for a walk."

"Going for a walk, my ass."

Absolutely infuriating. "How many times do I need to tell you to watch your mouth?!"

"How many times do I need to tell you that you sound like my mother?!"

"Are you going to let me take my walk?!"

"And I reiterate, 'Going for a walk, my _ass_ '!"

"And how would you know?!"

"You've got a tell! Your right foot taps incessantly when you lie!"

A short moment passed before she blinked, swallowed, and looked down at her foot. True to his word, her right foot was tapping. Incessantly. Almost at the same rate of her heart.

Trouble. So much trouble.

"I have to go." With that, she spun back around and began walking.

"Damn it, Rachel, get back here."

She kept walking.

"Rachel!"

_"My name is Raven!"_ she almost yelled back. _Almost_.

"Damn it, Rachel! Get your cute ass back over here!"

That only made her quicken her pace. If he was willing to call her out on how cute her butt was and she was willing to let it slide, then she was in a tremendous amount of trouble. "As if that would ever make me come back!"

A sigh. "Fine. Rachel, please come back?" he corrected. Then, a groan. "Hell."

Suddenly, she found herself over his shoulder and her entire world upside down as he walked her back to their tent. "Richard!" she bellowed, her voice bouncing with each of his footsteps as she pounded his back. "Put-me-down-now!"

"Gladly," he said as he set her down. "You're heavy."

She shoved at his chest. "As if a silly boy like you could ever carry me!"

He sputtered. "What the hell does that mean?!" Before she could say anything that reminded him of his mother, he ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. "Listen, why are you leaving? Did I do something?"

On the contrary, she wanted to tell him. The only thing he did was act as an absolute gentleman. Despite his filthy mouth. She didn't want him to think that he had done anything wrong when he hadn't done anything at all. But, she couldn't leave any room for persuasion. "Richard, I can't stay."

"Your foot isn't tapping."

"Because I'm not lying."

He didn't seem to care what she had to do as long as she wasn't lying to him. He took a step forward and she swore that her heartbeat's pace quickened tenfold when he took her hand into his. "Rae, you can't just up and leave like that."

Rae? A nickname? No one was ever so bold to give her a nickname before. "Why? So you won't be lonely?"

"Because you didn't give me a proper explanation."

"I didn't realize that I had to explain myself to you."

"You do when we've been together for almost two months."

Suddenly, she was _very_ aware of her hand in his.

"Besides, I like having you around," he answered before an impish smile slid onto his face. "Plus, I promised that I would fight for you."

Her heart hiccuped. What was this boy doing to her? "You didn't promise me that."

"I'm promising you that now."

That smile on his face made her stomach do a little _flip_ before she broke their gaze to watch their hands. This was dangerous. So dangerous. But, she couldn't deny how perfectly her hand fit into his - almost like a puzzle piece. She swallowed before she finally looked up and met those eyes. "Fine."

Her voice was a bit weak and choked, but he didn't seem to mind, notice, or care. "Fine."

Where would she have gone, anyway?

_**.** _

He never held her again as she slept, but he did keep his pillow next to hers, just to make sure that she wouldn't try to run again.

"I already told you that I'm not leaving," she would always say with an irritated roll of her eyes. But, he never missed the smile that she tried to hide or the slight quickening of his heartbeat at the sight of it.

The only real difference in their routine wasn't really a difference in _their_ routine, but in _his_. He found himself waking up a bit earlier, just to make sure that she was still there. Waking up to see her pillow empty and her satchel gone almost put him into cardiac arrest. It bothered him to admit it, but he would hate it if she left. He would hate it if she left _him_. Rachel had definitely grown on him - enough for him to call her out on how cute her butt was, to carry her back to the tent, and to hold her hand in an attempt to make her stay.

That was flirting - hardcore flirting. True, it was all in the heat of the moment, but this was besides the fact that whole situation wasn't exactly helping him to ignore or push down that crush.

So, he stopped. He stopped ignoring his feelings and decided to do something about it before he could come to his senses, punk out, and resume his ignoring.

Richard gave into that impulsive streak running through his veins and now, he was rummaging through some forest early in the morning, before the sun was even in the sky, to find a flower for her before she woke up. It was pathetic and he felt like a hormonal, teenage boy, but he was already out and going through shrubbery. He might as well finish what he started. Besides, this was what got his father the girl, so it was sure to work for him. From that look he remembered on Rachel's face when he told her, it was bound to work.

When she finally did wake up, approaching him with hair tied up and the flower in hand, she didn't look rubbed the wrong way. Just curious. Maybe hopeful. "What is this?" she asked.

"Rachel, that's a flower," he answered.

_"Richard."_

He allowed an easy and impish smile to slide onto his face before he scratched the back of his head. "I just thought that you might like it. I've got to give you some kind of incentive to stay after you tried to run, right?"

She pursed her lips as she fought a smile. A quiet moment passed before she began studying the flower. "What is it? And don't say that it's a flower," she quickly added. "I'm not stupid."

He smiled a bit. "I know." Her eyes were curious and wondering, matching the petals of the flower that she studied and held between her thumb and forefinger. "That's a pansy."

Then, the smile she was fighting off finally escaped before she began tucking the flower into her bun. It was a small, ghost of a smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Thank you."

It took all of his strength in order to keep that breath of relief in. He wouldn't mind waking up a bit earlier every morning, even before the sun was in the sky, if he got to see that look on her face and the flowers that he picked for her tucked into her hair.

When she finally met his eyes, his stomach flipped. Holy hell, was he in trouble with this one. "You're welcome."

 


	3. Chapter 3

The Runaway - Part III

* * *

_He was a peasant farm boy. She was a runaway who didn't even know how to be a proper runaway. Together, they were going to find the princess._

* * *

Every morning, Raven woke up to find a flower beside her pillow, each one a different breed - just as _his_ mother had woken up every morning when his father was alive. Now, Raven was not stupid. She knew what it all meant - 'it all' meaning the flowers, of course - and she was embracing it.

Once again, Raven was not stupid. She was quite intelligent; she knew this while growing up and so did the people around her. It wasn't as if she made any efforts to hide her intelligence, either. Honestly speaking, she shouldn't have been embracing _any_ of this, at all.

She knew.

She shouldn't have even encouraged it all by tucking the flowers into her hair bun and turning it into an accessory.

_She knew._

Raven wasn't _stupid_. She was _smart_. But, goodness, she was sick and tired of being smart - not that she wanted to be stupid instead.

It was just so unfair how stifled and sheltered she grew up simply because she was a princess - a woman. If Richard heard this, his assumptions of her spoiled brat mentality would be validated in his eyes. But, she was young and only nineteen. For once in her life, she wanted to live fully and truly. Didn't she deserve that much? Didn't she deserve to be _genuinely_ happy?

Richard was right about the flowers being an incentive for her to stay. It was also an incentive for her to forget all about Princess Raven and take on the persona of Rachel.

Permanently.

Raven was just fine with being stupid. Just this once.

_**.** _

After searching Steel City high and low, both Rachel and Richard decided that the princess was not there, and so, they took their search elsewhere: Jump City. They had actually been in the city of Jump for about a week and a half now.

A kind and hospitable city, Jump was - and this wasn't to say that Steel was _not_. Jump was simply warmer and much more welcoming. This was probably, and most likely, due to the fact that the city itself was a melting pot. When so many people of so many different backgrounds, religions, cultures, and ethnicities were all mixed together in one community, becoming tightly knit and accepting of others was inevitable. At least, this was how Richard saw it.

Which was probably why the bartender of the tavern that they were currently at was spilling his heart out. Not that they could understand him - he was speaking incredibly fast.

Beside him, Rachel seemed to be making an attempt to understand him. "Okay, Wally," she began patiently, most likely, to get him to follow her tempo. "You really must take your time in speaking if you want anyone to understand you."

A smile creeped it's way onto Richard's face, his stomach turning a bit at the sight of the flower tucked into the perfectly rounded bun sitting on the top of her head. If only his mother could see him now, attempting to win the heart of a girl he'd met just a few months ago underneath a table in the same way that his father had done with her. He would never hear the end of it. Just like he and Rachel would never hear the end of Wally's rambling.

Wally took in a breath. "Oh-kay," he began slowly as Rachel nodded in approval. "First. Of. All. Didn't. I. Tell. You. To. Call. Me. Flash. Lit-tle. Lay-dy?"

Rachel's lips curved into a smile. "First. Of. All. I'm not slow." When Wally crossed his arms with a glare as Richard guffawed, she continued. "And didn't I tell you to call me Rachel?"

"Right. _Rachel_ ," he said before he sighed, shifted from foot to foot, and finally gave into his rambling. "It'snotthatIthinkthatyou'reslowIjustwantedtomakesurethatyouunderstoodmecuzit'snotoftenthatpeoplearesopatientwithme-"

Rachel's jaw looked about ready to drop.

"Andyou'resuchagoodpersonforthaty'know?" Then, he released a sigh, heavier than the last, as if all of his burdens were lifted from his shoulders. "Y'know?"

She took the time to decipher everything that he had said before finally nodding. "Yes, I know. Everyone needs a listening ear once in a while."

"Exactly!" he exclaimed before resuming his rambling. "Normallypeopledon'treallygetmelikethisandyoureallygetmeandyou'rereallycutetoobutit'stoobadthatyou'retakenbyyourfriendoverhere-"

She blinked before biting a smile back.

"Butifyouweren'tI'msurethatIwouldgetyouthesamewaythatyougetmeinthewaythatotherpeopledon't-"

"All right, Flash," a young man declared as he clamped a hand onto Wally's shoulder with a shake of his head. "I think that you're overwhelming your new friend here." With raised brows, he nodded to Rachel. "I'm surprised that you lasted this long with him."

"It's not a problem. I'm used to people not listening to me and I don't like the thought of anyone else feeling the same." She didn't notice Richard look at her. "I was just trying to... _Understand_ him since people don't normally take the time to do that with him," she said before looking to Wally. "That's what you said, right? Did I get you?"

Wally looked completely starstruck. "That'sexactlywhatIsaidandyoutotallygetme."

Now, _that_ Richard understood and judging from Rachel's smile, so did she. His smile grew. It was nice to see her warming up to new people. Hell, if there was _anyone_ who needed to learn that there were actually people out there who were accepting and respectful of people of all backgrounds, it was her. Especially when they were literally in the main gathering place of a city that prided itself in developing a certain kind of respect or tolerance for others different from them.

The young man laughed as he stuck a hand out to greet Richard. "I'm Roy."

Richard nodded as he took his hand. "I'm Richard and this is Rachel."

"Are you guys here to search for the princess, too?" he asked as he began wiping the counter down. "That search has given this place a lot of new customers from out of town, and I'm always working. I don't recognize you two, which must mean that you're searching, too. Am I right?"

Rachel looked about ready to snort before she paused. "We're _supposed_ to be looking for the princess. We haven't done that in a while, though."

A week and a half, actually. As soon as they set foot into this city, their search was put on hold. Richard didn't know what it was about this town. Perhaps it was the kindness and the warmth that the people so readily and easily exuded, but he was almost positive that it was because of her - Rachel, that is. It really was nice to see her opening up a bit and making new friends, no matter how tentative she may have been in the beginning. He didn't mean to put the search on hold - it was all completely accidental and it had only been a week and a half, but he would put it on hold for her.

Needless to say, he was long gone with his nose wide open by now.

He shrugged at her knitted brows before looking to the other men. "Have you two heard any news?"

Wally whistled as he crossed his arms with a shake of his head. "Ijustwanttoknowwhysheleft."

Rachel took a minute before nodding. "So does everyone else."

Honestly speaking, this was the last thing on Richard's mind because the whole situation made no sense, at all. _Logically_ speaking, the girl should have been found by now. It wasn't as if she could have blended in, either. She was pale, had violet colored eyes, and long purple hair that reached right past her ass. Where could she have gone? "It's almost like she's disappeared."

Roy hummed as he tapped his chin in thought. "If she was willing to leave such a privileged life behind, then something must have been terribly wrong."

"We don't know what really goes on deep within those walls and corridors," he echoed Victor.

Rachel looked at him.

Wally's lips turned into a frown. It didn't look right for a frown to be on his face. "Andnoweveryone'slookingforherforabigwadofcash." He hesitated for a bit. "I. Feel. Bad. For. Her."

Rachel looked to Wally, giving him a bit of a forlorn smile. "Me. Too."

Suddenly, an outpour of 'boo's began filling the tavern, causing Rachel and Richard to jump. Wally and Roy were unfazed. "Open mic night," the latter explained. "We've been having them a lot more lately because of that search. The crowd's pretty tough, tougher than usual, because everybody's so off about finding the princess. Too bad all of the performers suck. They need a good picker upper."

A brow of Richard's jumped. Open mic night? "Hey, Rae-"

" _No_ , Richard."

The fact that she already knew what he was thinking made him laugh. "C'mon, Rae-"

"Richard, I swear-"

"But, they need a good picker upper-!"

"Then, _you_ do it-!"

"They won't like me, I'm not as cute as you-!"

"Silly boy, are you deaf?! Did you _not_ just hear that booing?! Roy just said that this is a tough crowd-!"

"He said that they're tougher than _usual_ -!"

"Cute or not, this won't end well!"

Quite honestly, Richard was just taken by how flushed her face grew when he called her 'cute'. She had definitely gotten better, but she still seemed to be so afraid of people. Who else but him would be better to show her that people weren't that scary? After all, it was open mic night.

So, he stood, grabbed her by the arms, and began pulling her toward the stage. Now, Richard knew that he was acting out of line in doing this and he was probably - _definitely_ \- going to get it from her later on, but she needed this.

"Richard!" she gritted out through clenched teeth as she fought against his grip. "You better let me go now or so help me-!"

"You'll what? Are you going to whip me with your hair or something- Woah!" He stumbled backwards a bit when she jerked. She was actually pretty strong for her size. He tightened his hold on her and continued to make his way for the stage, the crowd and tavern's patrons laughing and encouraging them. It seemed that they had succeeded in drawing attention to themselves. "Look, you even have an awesome entrance, Rae-"

"How _dare_ you call me by that name when you're dragging me onto a stage-?!"

"Actually, I'm carrying you-"

"Ha! Silly boy, you are dragging. As if you would ever be strong enough to carry me-"

That was enough out of her. "Can't you hear them cheering you on?" At that, he set her onto the stage and jumped off before she could go after him. Not that she could. She was frozen on the spot, her eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

Well, Richard didn't want that happening - no matter how cute she looked. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Rachel, Rachel, Rachel." And soon, the crowd joined in on the chanting, slamming their fists and cups onto their tables and stomping their feet on the ground to the beat. Richard continued in his chanting, an impish grin growing onto his face when she finally jolted out of her daze to cross her arms and glare at him as he made his way back to his seat.

Nevertheless, she remained on the stage. The incessant chanting of her name was annoying - one could tell by the look on her face. With an exasperated sigh and a roll of her eyes, she finally spoke. "Okay, okay! You can be quiet now! I'm not going to run off!" Then, she added under her breath. "Even though I should."

The audience heard it, prompting them all to release a chuckle. "Come on, little lady!" a rough and laughing Australian accent exclaimed. "Sing us a song, eh?"

That spurred the crowd to begin another chant: "Sing us a song! Sing us a song! Sing us a song!"

She raised a hand to massage her temples with her fingertips. "Oh, my word," she grumbled. "You men are like children." When they released another laugh, she released another sigh. "Very well. I don't sing, but I can tell you a story. Would you like to hear it?"

"Tell us a story!" they chanted. "Tell us a story! Tell us a story!"

"Fine," she began as she finally dropped her hand and the crowd quieted. "This is one of my favorites. It's about one man, a cyborg, a beast, a witch, and a princess. But, not like that spoiled brat who ran away."

The smile that she tried to hide as the crowd laughed was enough to make Richard fall back into his seat as if the breath had been knocked right out of him.

Roy laughed along with the crowd. "She your girl?"

When she met his eyes, he nodded for her to continue and her smile grew a bit before she returned her attention back to the crowd. Hell. He was fully convinced that her smile could bring even the strongest of empires down to their knees. "Not yet."

As fate, coincidence, and irony all rolled up into one would have it, Rachel was a natural. Well, once she was physically placed onto the stage and forced to speak, she was a natural. But, that was besides the fact. In her storytelling, she had managed to create a world that everyone could see. When a villain entered, they jumped. When the princess fell for the man, they 'aw'ed. Could you imagine? Grown men in a tavern late at night ' _aw'ing_ when a princess fell in love?

Needless to say, she had them all eating out of the palm of her hand. So, of course, they all asked for an encore.

"En-core!" some chanted. "Tell us another!" others demanded. "No, the same one!" the rest argued.

With wide eyes, Rachel was frozen until she crossed her arms and opened her mouth to speak. Richard, who correctly guessed that she was going to tell them all off for acting like children, managed to make his way back to the stage to grab her by the wrist and pull her off of the stage.

Roy was right behind him, jumping onto the stage and distracting the crowd as Richard and Rachel made their escape back to the bar. "Hey, now! Relax!" the bartender commanded.

As Roy worked to calm the crowd down, Richard finally let her wrist go. "Well," she huffed as she crossed her arms. " _Never_ in my _life_ have I ever met a group of men who acted like children!"

"You're nineteen, Rae," he said. "How much experience with that could you possibly have?" A grin grew when she glared.

"Canyoublamethem?" Wally asked excitedly and continued before Rachel could even get a chance to decipher what he said. "Youwereawesome!"

Rachel and Richard blinked before he nodded. "What he said. They loved you." So did he.

A smile creeped it's way onto her face and Roy made his way back over to them. "Okay, they've calmed down. But, only because I promised them that you'd be back."

Her smile dropped. "You _what_?!"

Quite frankly, Richard didn't even think that her voice could get that high considering how low and husky it was.

Roy released a nervous chuckle as he scratched the back of his neck. "I mean, could you imagine how many more customers you'd attract? Word is _going_ to spread! You might as well make a name for yourself while you're searching for that princess. I can already see it," he began in a whisper as he held his hands out and looked into the space between them.

Behind him, Wally moved to look through the other man's hands a bit curiously.

"The Storyteller," Roy announced before he looked to Rachel. "How do you like the sound of that?"

From the chewing of her bottom lip that she was doing (and Richard was attempting to distract himself from), she seemed to be debating the idea. She looked to him and he met her eyes. "What do you think?"

He thought that it was a pretty good idea. Not only would they make a little extra money on the side that would help in their traveling, but she did look happy on that stage. He ignored Roy's dancing brows and his head pointing to his hands, still open and outstretched in the air. "I think that it's a good idea."

Roy was beaming.

"But, it's all your choice."

Roy held his hands right in front of her face. "Do you see the vision, Rachel? More importantly, do you see the money?"

At that, she pushed his hands away with a scoff. "I'll do it," she began tentatively. Roy, who sensed her apprehension nodded for her to continue. "But, only if I get a cut of the profit."

"Deal," he responded promptly. Then, a grin graced his face as he clenched his fists in glee. "We're going to make so much money!" he practically squealed.

Wally laughed. "Sinceshe'soneofyouractsyou'vegottotreatherwellboss."

Roy agreed with a nod. "You're right." He hopped over the counter to stand beside Wally before he dug around in a cupboard and took a scroll out. He rolled it open and placed it onto the counter in front of them. "This is an advertisement for the best inn in this city. The directions from this tavern to that inn are on here, so you'll have no trouble getting there. Now, when you do get there, you'll meet a cute check in girl." His expression grew love struck. "Tall, mocha skin, love of my life-"

Wally interrupted with a snort. "Hellshedoesn'tevenlikeyou-"

Before Rachel could get to telling Wally to watch his mouth, Roy continued undeterred. "Tell her that Speedy sent you-"

"Iwonderhowyougotthatname-"

"I swear, I'll fire you right now." Wally crossed his arms with a huff, but he remained quiet. So, Roy continued. "As I was saying, real cute check in girl at the front desk. Show her this scroll and tell her that _I_ sent you. Speedy. You'll be good for the night."

They left the tavern soon after because it was late and also because Richard could tell that Rachel was spent. So, they bid their new friends adieu, mounted their steed, and made their way for the inn.

After a while, he finally spotted the inn and began directing his steed to a railing to stand in a line with other horses. Thank the gods that the scroll had the directions. With so many winding roads and shortcuts, they would have gotten lost without it. He hopped off, smiling a bit when Rachel fell almost fell forward before she jolted herself awake, shaking her head with a yawn. His stomach turned at the sight of that flower tucked into her bun and how her pale skin seemed to glow under the moonlight. She always seemed to glow more at night.

He shook that off and held a hand out for her to take. "Come on. I can't carry you."

She blinked down at him before her brows knitted, then she looked at the empty seat in front of her. Hell, she really was tired if she didn't even notice that he was gone. Nevertheless, she took his hand and allowed him to help her onto the ground. "You'll never be able to carry me, silly boy."

Richard rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. No matter how tired she was, that mouth was still running. Once she was on the ground, she let his hand go, her arms were wound around his middle, and her face was buried into his shoulder.

He froze. Richard could honestly say that although they had grown close, Rachel would only do that if she was tired. So, he shook the apprehension off and allowed her to use him as a post. He wound his own arm around her waist before he began leading them both into the inn.

The door opened with a little _twinkle_ as they made their way through and to the front desk. At the front desk was a young woman with a friendly smile. "Hello, I'm Karen, and welcome to the Jump City Inn where we make your stay as comfortable as possible."

Richard returned the smile. "Thanks, we'd like to check in."

Karen nodded and opened a book. "Sign here," she directed with a pen before handing it to him.

He nodded and thanked the gods that he was ambidextrous. Once he finished signing, he returned the pen to her and allowed her to do a bit of her own paper work. "How long will you two be staying?" she asked.

They really should have been staying for only one night, but Rachel liked this town. They both did. But, they did have that deal at the tavern. He nudged the top of her bun a bit with his cheek. "Rae, how long are we staying?"

The only answer she gave him was the tightening of her arms around him and the moving of her face from his shoulder into his neck. Then, a murmured, "I'm tired."

As if she wasn't already distracting enough. Despite this, his own hold around her waist grew firm and he held her closer as she wobbled. He offered Karen a sheepish smile. "Uh, I'm not really sure how long we'll be staying-"

She held a hand up with an understanding smile. "No worries. I'll put you down for one night and if you'd like to stay for a bit longer, we can arrange that. This inn gets it's fair share of wandering, young couples, especially late at night."

Of course, she thought that he and Rachel were a couple. Hell, with the way that they were entangled, he would have thought the same. But, he couldn't deny that he liked the feeling of him and Rachel being confused for a couple, even if he wasn't exactly sure _what_ they were.

He shook that off. "Right, of course." As he began digging into his pocket for his sack of money, Rachel made a small noise of discomfort and hugged him a bit closer. "Yeah, yeah," he mumbled. "Just let me pay and I'll get you to sleep." He didn't miss the slight widening of Karen's smile.

Wait a minute, her smile. Karen was pretty cute, she was pretty tall, and she had mocha colored skin. On top of all that, she was _literally_ the check-in girl.

"Do you know a Speedy?" he asked.

Her smile dropped. " _Speedy_ sent you?" When he nodded, she took the book and scratched his name off. "Well, why didn't you _say_ so?!" she exclaimed a bit joyfully. "Hey, J.!" she called out. "Speedy's sent us another one!"

Behind Karen, a young woman popped her head through the back door. "What's new? That boy's always sending people here."

Karen placed a hand over her heart. "Bless his kind, carrot top soul."

Richard, who was a bit blindsided by this entire encounter thus far, held a hand out. "Wait, I'm pretty sure that Wally told us that you didn't even like Roy. You seem pretty fond of him to me."

As Karen snorted, J. left the back room and made her way to stand beside the older woman. She rolled her eyes. "He only said that because he's bitter about his friend being in a healthy relationship. I'm Jinx, by the way."

That seemed to wake Rachel up. She turned her head to look at Jinx. "Jennie. You grew up with Wally and he gave you that nickname because you were always getting hurt. He talked about you."

Immediately, there was a simultaneous, "He did?" and "You _understood_ him?"

Rachel nodded before placing her face back into Richard's neck. "He likes you."

Richard ignored the tingle running down his spine when she spoke as Jinx's jaw dropped and hung open and Karen laughed. "I _knew_ it!" At that, she took a key and held it out. "Your room number is 103. Don't even worry about paying. Any friends of Speedy and Wally are friends of ours."

Richard took the key with a nod. "Thank you." Finally, he and Rachel began making their way up to their room.

Jinx, who seemed to finally shake the shock off, called out a stuttering, "Ha-have a good night and enjoy your stay at Jump City Inn!"

"Are you going to visit him tonight?" Karen asked in a mock whisper.

"Oh, my- Shut _up_ , Karen!"

Karen's cackles filled the foyer.

When they finally made it to Room 103 and through the door, Rachel let him go. Unfortunately for _him_. However, he couldn't deny that as she pulled the flower out of the bun sitting at the top of her head and began picking at it before her hair fell out, allowing her to plop herself face first into the bed, that it was good to see her get some rest in an _actual_ bed and not on the floor in some tent.

She sighed in contentment as she placed the flower beside her head. "Thank you."

He chuckled. Although it was nice to see her resting in an actual bed, it was even funnier to see her entire face engulfed by all that hair. "You're welcome," he said as he sat on the couch across from the bed. He couldn't share that with her. Nevertheless, his smile grew. He had never seen her so tired before.

A pleasant pause passed and he thought that she had finally fallen asleep. But then, with a huff, she pulled the covers over herself and pushed her hair back and away from her face. "We haven't searched for the princess in a while."

Her violet eyes always caught him off guard, even when they were overcome by drowsiness as they were now. "No," he agreed as he shook his head. "We haven't."

"What if someone else finds her?" she asked. "Then, what?"

"No one else is going to find her. At least, not anytime soon. She's a pretty good hider." When she chuckled a bit, his heart flipped. "Besides," he began quietly. "I think I've found a queen instead."

A smile slid onto her face. It was a small smile, but a smile nonetheless and it made his heart do another flip. "You were so dead set on finding this girl," she began. "This queen that you've found must be pretty outstanding if she's distracted you from searching for that princess."

"She is."

"Are you flirting now?"

"I'm telling the truth."

Her smile widened and his own grew.

"How long are we staying here?" she asked.

"How long would you like to stay, Storyteller?" When she didn't answer, but looked contemplative, he continued. "You like it here." It wasn't a question because he could tell.

Hesitantly, she nodded. "The people are so kind. It feels like home."

"So, you'd like to stay?"

"Yes."

Just look at him putting the search on hold for this woman. And this time, it wasn't even accidental - he was now _voluntarily_ putting the entire search for the princess on hold. For her. And he wasn't bothered by this decision, at all.

Hell, he was so gone.

With a sigh, he reclined onto the couch and fluffed the pillow beneath his head. "Tell me when you want to leave."

**_._ **

Princess Raven had become The Storyteller - not that anyone knew that the Storyteller was actually Raven and surprisingly enough, the audience loved her. But, this was probably because she hadn't _become_ a storyteller. She was already one. Since the very day that she met Richard under that table in the marketplace, Raven had been a storyteller.

Sitting on the corner of the bed, she stared at the flower that she held between her thumb and forefinger. Today's flower was a magnolia; a white one. Ironically enough, white magnolias were said to represent nobility, royalty, and power. In her family's arrogance, they took the flower as their official symbol. Wherever the royal family went, the flowers were used to announce their arrival and departure. What were the chances that he would end up picking _this_ flower for her? But, it wasn't like he knew of such frivolous things. Or cared.

"Are you okay?"

She jumped a bit and tore her eyes away from the flower to meet his eyes across the room.

They had been getting ready to leave and search the city. Not for the princess, but for some fun before they had to go back to the tavern. It had been so long since they had searched for the princess - one month, to be exact. It had been _one month_ since Richard had last searched for the princess and Raven knew that it was because of her. She was hindering him from the search and from taking care of his mother and they both knew it, but he didn't know what she did. He didn't know that she _really_ was hindering him because he was housing _her_ , the _princess_ , the one who he was searching for - who he was _supposed_ to be searching for in order to collect the funds to take care of his mother.

Raven strongly opposed the bartering of humans for money. But, she would turn herself in for him just so that he would have the funds to care for his mother. But, she couldn't tell him the truth and it hurt because this was the one lie that he would never be able to detect from her.

"I'm fine."

"You're lying."

Despite the grief that she felt, a laugh forced it's way out of her throat and her stomach turned a bit when he made his way over to crouch down in front of her. His eyes, bright, blue, and electric made her take a breath in. No matter how many times she would see them, they would always catch her off-guard.

"Do you not like it?" he asked as he felt a petal.

On the contrary, she wanted to tell him. Actually, she liked it even more now that she was watching him touch the petals. Now, she couldn't wait to just stick it in her bun. However, instead of doing this, she shook her head. "I love it." She did. When a corner of his mouth curved upwards, her heart stuttered and a smile of her own grew. "Did you know that the royal family's official flower is the magnolia?"

"The white one?" When she nodded, he responded with a scoff. "Told you I found a queen."

Impossible as it seemed, her smile actually grew. If only the king and queen could see their one and only daughter melting because of a peasant farm boy. "Silly boy, you said that you _think_ that you've found a queen."

A moment passed as he continued to feel the flower's petals before he finally spoke. "I'm sure now."

She could feel her heart breaking. Quite literally, too. Her chest really was aching and her heart really was shattering because he was sure about _Rachel._ Not _her_. Not _Raven_. She told herself that she would be able to keep the façade up, but that was one month and a half ago. That was before he thought of her as a queen. That was before he became sure of her. That was before _she_ became sure of _him_.

But, she could _not_ tell him.

What was going to happen with the search? Even if Richard stopped searching for her, others wouldn't. Not anytime soon, anyway. She was the princess and next in line to take the throne. He didn't know it, but he really did find a queen. _The_ queen. Well, the intended queen-to-be, but this was besides the point. The point being that she was lying to him - she had _been_ lying to him and she couldn't tell him the truth.

So, before she could stop herself, she reached down to take him into her arms. She felt him freeze before he hesitantly returned the embrace. "Rae," he began and she was glad that he called her that because she wasn't sure if she could handle him calling her 'Rachel'. Not now. "What's wrong?"

Raven had never been so flustered that she had to resort to grabbing someone like this. She was a princess - she couldn't afford to be flustered. Period. But, she wasn't a princess with him. With him, she was a just a regular girl that he found under a table, and she knew that he would do anything that she asked him to do.

_Turn me in._

_Take the money._

_Take care of your mother._

_It's me._

_I'm Raven._

_I'm the princess._

_I'll go freely._

_I love-_

"We haven't searched for the princess in a while," she blurted out.

Much to her dismay, he pulled away from the hug, taking her hands from around his neck to keep them in place on her lap. At least he kept her hands in his. His dark brows knitted. "You want to search for the princess?"

She nodded. She did. She needed some sense of normalcy; whatever normalcy was now that she realized just how horrible she was at being stupid. "I want to search for the princess."

His eyes, clear and transparent, searched hers before he took the flower from her hand to tuck it into the bun sitting at the top of her head. Then, he took her hands back into his, starting a bit after a moment. Before she could ask him what was wrong, he nodded as if he didn't want to stir her. "We'll go search for the princess."

And so, they went to search for the princess. Everyday they searched for the princess, only to have him become disappointed. It hurt to see a frown mar that handsome face and to see the hopelessness swimming in those eyes of his. It pained her to see him so disappointed and to _know_ that she was the reason why. But, she couldn't tell him because she was afraid to lose him. Just like the spoiled brat that she was.

The only good thing that would ever come from the disappointing searches during the day was meeting at the tavern with their new friends during the evening. There, she could cheer him up along with the audience with her stories. As sad and bizarre as that was.

But, that didn't work out one night. Fortunately or unfortunately - she wasn't sure which.

Quite frankly, Raven didn't know how it happened. All she clearly remembered was speaking with Richard and Roy, and attempting to understand Wally. Once again, he was thanking her for revealing the feelings that he had for Jinx when he could not.

She held a hand up before he could continue in his ramblings. "It's been two months. You don't need to keep thanking me."

Roy whistled as he served a drink to a patron. "Two months? Has it been that long since you guys showed up already?"

Wally's brows raised when the two nodded. "Areyoutwostillsearchingfortheprincess?"

A moment passed before Richard responded with another nod. "Yes, we are."

Roy shook his head with a waggling finger. "You two are stronger than me. Me? I don't think that girl's ever going to pop up. She's too good at this little hide and seek thing. If we _do_ end up finding her, she'll be old, wrinkled, and married to some peasant farm boy with fifty grand children."

Raven's stomach turned at the prospect and she resisted the urge to look at Richard.

"If you do ever give up on that search," Roy continued as he wiped the counter down with a cloth. "You two should settle down here. Unless you've already got somewhere to go, that is."

Richard had somewhere to go. He had a home, friends, and family to go to if he gave this search up. Raven didn't. She definitely wouldn't mind staying in this city, but she would love it if _he_ was able to stay with her, and she _knew_ that he would if she asked. But, she couldn't do that. Not to him.

Wally grinned excitedly. "Youguysareprettygoodpeoplesoit'dbegoodifyoustayedbutit'dbeevenbetterifprettyboyoverherewouldsmileforonce."

It took Richard a minute to get what he said. "How many times do I need to tell you that I'm not a pretty boy?!"

Roy looked apprehensive. "I don't know, man. You are kind of pretty."

"He gets his eyes from his mother," Raven supplied. She hid her smile behind a hand when Richard looked at her before he turned to argue with Wally.

This was when a man approached her. With a sly smile, he placed his hand onto the counter beside her. "The Storyteller," he began. "I must admit, you've got a gift for telling stories."

She fought the urge to tell him that that was the point of the name. "Thank you," she responded with a short smile as the boys continued to argue behind her.

"It would be an honor to buy you a drink."

Her smile faltered. "No, thank you." At that, she returned her attention back to her friends. Her smile grew back a bit. It felt nice to be referring to a group of others as her friends.

The man didn't take too kindly to being rejected. With his free hand, he grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to turn her attention back to him. "Little lady, I'm being nice here. I just said that it would be an honor. You better be grateful because I don't do this often."

Was he seriously _touching her_? The daughter of Arella and Trigon? The heiress and intended queen-to-be who would rule the land that touched the ocean of the North all the way to the ends of the deserts of the plain lands? The one who _literally_ owned his ass, the asses of his friends and family, and the asses of every animal that he farmed?

Before she could declare this to him and, in turn, lose everything, she swatted his hand away. "Common courtesy and kindness is not something that should be rewarded," she spoke quietly as to not draw any attention. "A woman does not owe you anything for doing something that should already be done and ingrained in that head of yours, _boy_."

His hand left the counter as if he'd been burnt. " _Boy?!"_

She slapped her hands over her mouth. She did _not_ mean to say that. She wasn't supposed to be speaking as a royal. Even as a royal, she never spoke like this. He just got her so angry. No matter how angry she was, she was supposed to be _Rachel_ , not the entitled princess who was taught that everyone was lower than her.

With a dark chuckle, the man approached her, prompting her to shuffle back into her seat. "Who the hell do _you_ think you're calling 'boy', _woman_?"

So much for not drawing any attention. She reached behind her to grab Richard's arm.

He looked down at her hand, then to her, and finally the man. At that, he stood. "What's going on?"

"He won't leave me alone," she told him.

The man scoffed and made a move to take another step toward her before Richard stood between them. "This _woman_ thinks that _she_ can go around calling people ' _boy_ '."

Wally snorted. "Howcanyoublameherwhenyou'reactinglikeakid?"

The man's face scrunched up. Then, he shook his head. "Woman, you owe me a good time. Let's go."

Raven's jaw dropped as the arrogance and entitlement. She automatically recognized it as misogyny - the hatred of women. As a woman, she was only there for one thing. As hard as it was to believe, this man was worse than the nobles. He sincerely thought that she owed him for being kind to her.

Immediately, she stood behind Richard. "Excuse me? Just who the hell do _you_ think that you're talking to?"

Richard snorted as he began rolling his sleeves up. Why was he doing that? "Watch that mouth, Rachel."

Before she could ask him why he was rolling his sleeves up, Wally hopped over the counter to stand beside her. She almost jumped, but then she saw that he was rolling his sleeves up, as well. What was going on?

He winked. "Don'tworrywegotthis."

Raven blinked. Got what?

"Guys," Roy began with a forlorn sigh. "Please, not now. We're making so much money and I don't want to pay for the damages."

Damages? What damages? Raven looked around. Apparently, they'd drawn a bit of attention. Despite that, the place looked damage-free to her.

"Okay, then!" the man exclaimed with a mock chuckle. "Just tell me who she belongs to then." He stepped up to Richard and grabbed his chin. "Is it you? Does she belong to _you_ , pretty boy?"

At that, Richard's fist made contact with the man's face before he wobbled a bit and finally fell to the ground. "She doesn't belong to anybody."

Behind him, Raven swallowed.

He turned to look at her. "Are you okay?"

It took her a minute before she could nod. "Yes. Thank you."

He looked insulted. "You don't have to thank me."

Before she could even become frozen again and begin stuttering, she spotted a few men. Apparently, that man on the ground had friends. Friends who were bigger than Roy, Wally, and Richard combined and didn't take too kindly to their friend being knocked unconscious. "Richard."

He turned to see the men coming. "Rachel, get back."

"Richard, don't you dare-"

"I'm daring-"

"This isn't funny!"

"Then, get back!"

From behind the counter, Roy's swearing could he heard. "Shit. Wally, do you want your bat or not?"

Wally didn't even get the chance to decline or accept the offer. It didn't matter. As soon as Roy got his weapon of choice out, it was an all out brawl. People who weren't even involved inserted themselves into the fight. The damages that Roy was attempting to avoid were incurred. Raven discovered that Richard was a pretty good fighter. Hell, she found out that _she_ was a good fighter because she wasn't about to sit back and just watch. Her parents would kill Richard if they knew that she was fighting, but that didn't matter at the moment.

In the end, they were victorious. The bodies of their foes laid strewn on the tavern's floor along with broken tables, bottles, and chairs. Although she didn't like to hear Roy's whining about how much money the repairs would cost, she was satisfied. That is, until she realized that Richard was injured. Now, she was angry.

She didn't speak with him as they left the tavern. She didn't speak with him as they mounted the horse. She didn't speak with him as they made their way back to the inn.

"That was-! That was-!" She struggled to come up with a word that would suffice in describing him at the moment as she paced the floor of their room. She had never been struck dumb before, at least, not enough for her to struggle with speaking, but he had done it.

"That was what?" he asked, goading her from his seat on the bed. "Silly?"

"As if ' _silly_ ' would _ever_ be the proper word to describe your actions!" she spat out. Raven was being ungrateful and was acting as a spoiled brat, she knew. He stepped in for her. He fought for her. But, now he was hurt _because_ of her. "You got hurt! You could have died!"

The only word that could be used to describe the expression on his face was _incredulous_. "Are you serious?" he asked and he finally stood. "It was for you!"

"Exactly! You should _not_ have done that for me!" she exclaimed.

His brows knitted before his jaw finally locked. Now, he looked angry. It would have been amusing to note the number of expressions that his face took on since leaving the tavern had they not been arguing. " _Excuse_ me?"

She told him not to get involved and now, he was hurt because of her. She wasn't mad at him - she was mad at herself for putting those injuries onto his body. How could she do this to him? "Congratulations, you are _no_ longer a silly boy-!"

"Rachel, seriously," he said as he approached her. "Just relax-"

"In fact," she continued undeterred. "You have graduated _and_ evolved from being a _silly_ boy-!"

"Rachel, I swear if you don't shut up-"

" _Now_ , you are a _stupid_ boy-!"

"I'll be forced to shut you up myself-"

"A stupid and foolish-!"

He took her face into his hands and kissed her. It caught her by surprise, of course, but both could admit that it had been a long time coming. So, her eyes fluttered shut and she gave into his lips as she grabbed for his shirt. All of the emotions that she had previously been attempting to suppress, she gave into them. She gave into _him_.

When he pulled away, his hands still held her face and she was absolutely breathless. He had literally kissed the breath out of her and she was fine with that.

"It was for you," he spoke against her lips.

She found herself nodding, not because she agreed, but because of what he did. Because he was willing to give his life for her despite the fact that they had only met a few months ago. Because he wanted to protect her and not because she was royalty. Because he valued her life. Because he valued _her_.

"Silly boy," she said quietly because her heart shattered for the both of them.

His thumbs caressed her cheeks. "I'm not a boy."

Now, she could hear her heart beating in her ears and she wouldn't have been surprised if he heard it, as well. She swallowed at the sight of that smile growing onto his face. His smile was always contagious, but at that moment, it seemed even more so. She was sure that she had a smile of her own. "I know."

Their lips met.

That night, he took her. No, she _gave_ herself to him. She would never allow a man or anyone for that matter to take anything from her. Raven gave herself to him and he received her. All of her.

It hurt like hell in the beginning. It did. But, he was patient and gracious with her. He took his time with her, making sure that she enjoyed every moment as much as he did and even more. It worked. Pretty soon, pain gave way to pleasure and she found herself connecting with him on a plane that she had never connected on with anyone ever before.

Hands roamed and groped, laboring breaths mixed before lips meshed, and their eyes, blue and violet, remained connected. From beginning to the end, blue and violet remained connected. He spoke to her as he moved, as his hands touched her in places she didn't even know were that sensitive, drawing out sounds from her that she didn't even know she could make. Making her moan and whimper, not in fear but in shock.

_"You're beautiful."_

_"All of you."_

_"Every part of you."_

_"Inside and out."_

Raven had definitely read those words before and very rarely would she ever hear them, but she never thought that those words could _sound_ like _that_. Never before had she _heard_ the words like _that_. Never had those words been _arranged_ like that and for her ears alone. For _her_ alone.

The room was hot. They would have been cooler had they separated, but she didn't want to be separated from him. She loved the feeling of his body over hers. She loved the feeling of protection that his arms around her gave her. She loved the feeling of his manhood resting inside of her. She loved feeling the rise and fall of his chest against hers. She loved his eyes, the brightest, clearest, and most electric of blues that she had ever seen looking down and into hers. From beginning to end, those eyes had been looking down and into hers.

For once, his hair was no longer standing. It was drenched with sweat, heavy and hanging down to brush over his eyes. Absolutely gorgeous. With a hand, she combed through his damp hair before cradling his head, prompting him to rest his forehead onto hers with a sigh. Her heart stuttered at that and she took his face into the other hand because he was also _trembling_. "Is it always like that?"

A slight laugh escaped him. "No."

The way he said it told her that it really was _never_ like that. The way that he was still trembling told her that it really was never like that. "What made it different?"

"You."

A smile grew onto her face at that as she wiped his cheek. That stirred a reaction within him and she felt it. So, she wound her legs around him and drew him in deeper with yearn. Yes, 'yearn' was the proper word because she did _yearn_ for him. She did _long_ for him even if he was right above her - even if he was already inside of her. She was _eager_ for _him_.

When he began to move, her eyes fluttered shut and her head fell back with a quiet moan. 'Exquisite' was the only and proper word to describe this. He watched her for a bit before placing a kiss onto her neck and hiding his face there. She grabbed for his hair and hugged him close as she arched into him, attempting to _feel_ him, _more_ of _him_.

"You, Rachel," he spoke into the flesh of her neck, emitting a whimper from her because she wanted to hear him say ' _Raven_ '. "You, you, you." He declared each word with a thrust as he continued to delve deeper into her, making her sing and cry out for him.

_**.** _

The next morning, he woke up with her in his arms. Their legs were entangled and her hand in his. Her head rested over his heart and her hair, long and thick as it was, cascaded down her back and off to the side, creating a second blanket.

His back felt sore and he was sure that it was because there were scars there. In fact, he was positive that there were now scars marring and tracing his back. Those were the scars that she drew onto him with her nails because she needed something, _anything_ , to help her ride out that wave of pleasure that they were both on. Needless to say, he would wear those scars proudly.

He kissed her hand before making a move to get up, careful not to wake her or to irritate his back. Immediately, she stopped him, trapping him with her leg. She was an early riser, but he didn't expect her to be awake. "Where are you going?" she asked into his chest.

He shivered a bit at the feeling of her breath ghosting his skin. "I'm going to get your flower."

"Silly boy," she began as she burrowed herself deeper into him. "You're my flower this morning." She kissed his hand before she moved to grab his chin. "You," she said as she placed a kiss onto his lips. "You." A kiss. "You." A kiss. "You." A kiss.

Before she could pull away again, he took her face into his hands, swallowing her moan as he turned them over.

* * *

_Princess Raven had never been considered brave. Brilliant? Yes. Beautiful? Of course. But, brave? Never. However, it wasn't as if she had ever done anything that could have been considered brave. Although,_ this _wouldn't be seen as brave. Not through the eyes of her parents._

_On her bed, laid Star. Not many people would ever have the privilege of being so intimately close to a royal, especially if said royal was the queen-to-be. Precautions needed to be taken with her regarding who she would spend her time with, so on and so forth. But, Star was different. "Would you miss me if I left?"_

_"Of course, I would miss you," she responded promptly as she played with the ends of her hair. "You are my best friend. I would never want you to just leave me, Raven."_

_"Even if it meant me being happy?"_

_Star's green eyes were immediately on her and Raven had to admit that she felt a bit guilty. After all, this was her best friend. However, she made sure not to let the guilt show. She was very good at poker faces._

_A frown marred Star's face and she let her hair go. "Are you unhappy?"_

_"I never said that." The other woman didn't look convinced, at all. So, Raven strode across the floor of her bedroom to sit on the bed, prompting star to sit up. "It was just a question."_

_"Did I answer it for you?"_

_Raven hesitated. "I think so."_

_Star watched her friend for a moment as she chewed her lip. Then, she took Raven's hand into her own with a shake of her head. "Raven, you forget that I am your best friend. Sometimes, it is so hard to discern how you really feel and it hurts me."_

_Raven frowned with a shake of her head. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to. It's just-"_

_"Royalty," Star finished for her with a forlorn smile. "I know."_

_The look on Star's face really was too much for Raven, so she looked down. "I'm sorry, Star. I am."_

_There was a pleasant pause before Star spoke. "I'm to assume that you'll be leaving soon, then?"_

_With wide eyes, Raven's head jerked up to look at her friend. "I never said that I was leaving. I was just asking you a question. I told you that."_

_The corners of Star's mouth quirked up a bit. "You forget that I'm your best friend," she repeated. "It is hard to read your face, but I do think that I'm getting better." She tightened her hold on Raven's hand. "I do want you to be happy and I know that this happiness is not here."_

_Raven swallowed. "Are you mad at me?"_

_Star looked insulted. "Of course, not. I just told you that I want you to be happy. Did I not?"_

_As she nodded, Raven could feel the smile growing onto her face. She tried to fight it back, but she knew that Star caught it. "Will you tell anyone?"_

_"No," Star said as dignified as she could. "I will not tell a soul. In fact, do not even tell me when you are taking your leave. I do not want to be questioned and have to lie."_

_The smile Raven was fighting finally broke through along with a chuckle. "In other words, this conversation never happened."_

_"Exactly." At that, Star threw her arms around Raven and drew her in for a hug. "Be careful, friend."_

_"I will."_

_"Make sure that you find happiness."_

_"I will."_

_"I love you."_

_"I love you, too."_

 


	4. Chapter 4

The Runaway - Part IV

* * *

_He was a peasant farm boy. She was a runaway who didn't even know how to be a proper runaway. Together, they were going to find the princess._

* * *

Richard hadn't expected to fall for her, especially when this 'her' was someone he'd discovered hiding under a table because he had dropped an orange and she had stolen food for the first time. Yes, she was smart and undeniably beautiful, but all she did was spew out sarcasm, her nose was always stuck in a book, and quite frankly, she was a bit too snobbish for a runaway who didn't even know how to be a proper runaway. Yet, despite all this, he did fall for her. Hard. Hard enough to force him to write to his mother about her and maybe even hard enough to make him consider giving up the search for that princess.

They were still in Jump and had been for the past two months. Rachel was right when she said that this city felt like home. It did and this included the inn that they continued to live in, the tavern that they continued to frequent, and all of the friend that they had made. All this town was missing were his mother and his hometown friends, but he was content to have just Rachel.

She was fast asleep and laying on her belly while he was wide awake after finding her a flower. Honestly, he should have at least woken her up, but once he caught the rising and falling of her pale, naked shoulders he made his way over to her on the bed, pushed her hair off to the side, and began decorating her back, neck, and the shoulder that faced him with little kisses simply because he wanted to take care of her.

It had never been like this before. At twenty years old, Richard could say that he was fairly experienced with women, but the fact remained that it was _never like this_. He had never cared to be so attentive before. He had never _cared_ this much - period. But now, all he wanted was to care for her. All he wanted was to pay all of his attention to her, take care of her inside and out, introduce her to his mother and show her what a real family was, make her glad that she ran away, pick her an entire forest - _anything_.

A sound escaped her and she tensed a bit. He slid a hand down under the cover that laid over her to massage her lower back as he nuzzled her shoulder. When she released a sigh and relaxed, his hand left her back and he snaked his arm around her waist to hold her close.

As receptive as she was, she was also sensitive - undoubtably so, but he understood. He was the first to kiss her, the first to touch her, and first to be physically intimate with her. Whenever he thought of this, pride ran and surged through his veins because _she was his._ So, he took his time with her every time he did take her and this was often because she was highly addictive. Almost like a drug.

No matter how fascinating her reactions were, he took his time with her. He was cautious every time her head fell back and her back arched. He was cautious every time her fingers tugged at his hair and her nails dug into his skin and scarred him. He was cautious every time a moan, a sigh, or a whimper became choked or stuttered at her throat. Every time her eyes clamped shut. Every time her jaw dropped. Every time she cried his name out. Every time her body jolted as if she'd been struck by lightning. Even now, he was cautious with his tender ministrations, the kisses, nips, and nuzzles that he distributed across her back. He reveled in the way that she squirmed and in the quiet sighs and occasional moans that escaped her as she finally awoke from her slumber.

With a yawn, she pushed herself up and onto her elbows, prompting him to let her go, in order to sit up and meet her eyes. As his hand slipped under the cover to reclaim it's spot at her lower back, she took his face into her hand. "Good morning."

His stomach turned at the sight of such hazy eyes. He would stare at her all day if she would allow it. Instead of going ahead with staring at her anyway, he kissed the skin of her inner wrist. "Good morning," he told her and his stomach turned again when her lips curved up.

A bit reluctantly, the hand at her back uprooted itself and he turned to reach behind him. As he did this, her hand at his face slid down to rest on his chest. Her fingers played with the fabric of his shirt before he returned with the flower.

Immediately and before he could even say anything, she smiled and her eyes lit up as she watched the flower, an expression that he would never tire of seeing. No wonder his father enjoyed searching for and picking the flowers as much as his mother loved to receive them.

Rachel took the flower and began to inspect it. "What's this one?"

"An orchid," he responded as his eyes trailed down to take in the rest of her pale skin. His breath hitched in his throat at the sight of the streaks lining the beginning curvature of her breasts. Finally, he looked back up to watch her face. She was still studying the flower, twisting and turning it between her thumb and forefinger. "Does this one symbolize something, too?"

"I'm sure that I've read of orchids before," she said as she thought before shrugging. "But, I can't recall at the moment."

A corner of his mouth quirked up. "How appropriate of you to know the symbolism of the white magnolia."

"You're correct in saying that it's appropriate," she quipped with a smile as she continue to observe the flower. "Now, all you have to do is look out for a trail of white magnolias and you'll be one step closer to finding that girl than the rest of your competitors."

A chuckle escaped him at that. Finally, she looked up to meet his eyes and watched him. "May we stay in today?" she asked after a moment.

His brows knitted at the request. "You want to stay in today?"

"Yes," she said with a nod. "I want to be with you."

Richard was tempted to accept her request simply because she was the one who asked. It wasn't a full on transformation, but one of the many good things that came from her breaking out of her shell were the things that she said. He really didn't want to deny her, but they had already taken plenty of days off, especially when they had first arrived at Jump.

He watched her for a moment before taking her chin into his grasp. "Just for today?"

"Forever." Immediately, she bit down on her lip. She obviously hadn't meant to say that.

Richard swallowed at that because he knew that she wasn't lying. She was much easier to read now than when they first met; he didn't even have to check if her right foot was tapping anymore. He could see the regret and the hesitancy in the slight knitting of her brows, as if she was afraid that he wouldn't want to be with her in return.

He released her chin to take the flower from her and he tucked it behind her ear. "Let's stay in today."

At his words, she took his face back into her hand and his own left her ear to slide the cover that laid over her down, revealing her pale and naked back to him. Only him. As he massaged her back and reveled in its softness, her thumb worked to smooth one of his brows down and she shuffled closer to him. Then, their lips met.

The flower didn't last very long behind her ear.

_**.** _

'Forever'. She had not meant to tell him that. She wasn't supposed to just be _blurting_ things out. She was raised better than that, to control her mouth and everything that everyone around her was hearing. Words weren't supposed to just be spewing and slipping out of her mouth uncontrollably like this, especially not because of some peasant farm boy. But, it was because of this peasant farm boy and it hurt because she knew that if she hadn't run away, there would have never been a search and they would have never met. And the circumstances under which they had met were so bizarre because _she_ was who he was searching for.

He needed to find the princess because he needed the funds to take care of his mother and he had found her. As if the gods above wanted taunt her for running away and him for mocking spoiled brats, their paths crossed and they met under a table. This boy had unwittingly found her, became her friend, and took such good care of her. He didn't know it, but _she did._ Raven knew that this was the one and only lie he would never be able to detect from her. And _it hurt_.

Pretty soon, she found herself attempting to do the most ridiculous things, 'ridiculous' because she knew better. She would coax him and drag him around to continue the search, just as he had coaxed her out of her shell, despite the fact that she knew where the princess was simply because she hated to see him so discouraged. Of course, when they were confronted by a dead end she would feel so guilty because the look of discouragement came back. She would feel so guilty that she would intentionally and deliberately distract him from the search because she _knew_ that he would do whatever she asked him to do. It was a vicious cycle that she only continued because while _she didn't know what to do_ , she did know that she was _hurting_ him as he continued to take care of her.

One night, she finally broke. Maybe it was because of the way that he was holding her in bed with the sheets over their entangled bodies in the darkness. Maybe it was the feel of the rise and fall of his bare chest against her cheek. But, the more she listened to the sound of his heartbeat and how it matched hers _(every third beat)_ , she knew that _this_ was why.

So, she broke.

"I love you, Richard," she spoke into the silence because, quite honestly, she didn't care whether he heard it or not. She just needed to say it.

To her surprise, he wasn't asleep. The arm around her drew her closer and he placed a kiss onto the top of her head. "I love you, too."

She felt her stomach turn because she knew that this wasn't supposed to be happening. None of this was supposed to be happening. This boy was out searching for her in order to collect the funds to take care of his mother and here she was, _the princess_ , entangled with him in bed and telling him that she loved him. And she did love him. Oh, how she loved him.

"I mean it."

"So do I."

But, she was not supposed to be in his arms, being held and spoken to so tenderly. This was _not_ her place. This was not _their_ place. Something was going to go wrong and soon. _Soon_. Very soon.

That thought spurred her to sit up, prompting him to do the same and she moved to straddle him, her legs on either side of him as she took his face into her hands.

His brows furrowed at her suddenness. "Rachel, what's wrong-"

She kissed him and she was grateful that he gave into her lips, however tentative he was in the beginning, because she wasn't sure how much time she had left with him. _This was not her place_. This wasn't right. She needed to tell him everything before they were torn apart because she was sure that they would be. They were both going to get hurt. _He_ was going to get hurt and that fact amplified the hurt that she already felt.

"I love you," she spoke a bit frantically against his lips. Her thumbs caressed any part of his face that they could reach. "I love every part of you. I love the good and the bad. I love you inside and out. I love how you pick me flowers every morning the same way your father did for your mother-"

"Rachel, what's going-"

She kissed him to shut him up because she needed to get this all out. Who knew how much time they would have left? When she pulled away, she was breathless, but she couldn't take the time to breathe. She refused to take the time to breathe. The time that she took to breathe was time that could be used for him. Who knew how much time she had left with him?

"I love how impulsive you are and your dirty mouth-"

"Rachel-"

"You're beautiful, Richard." Her thumbs traced his brows then, the delicate skin under his eyes. "You're so beautiful. Every part of you-"

This time, he kissed her to shut her up and it worked. Soon, she was the one giving into his lips, letting him calm her down with the gentle strokes of his tongue and his hand cupping her bottom. Slowly, he pulled away, but not before leaving three final kisses onto her lips. Then, he raised a hand to wipe her lips with the padding of his thumb. "Rachel," he began quietly as if not to stir her. "What's wrong?"

His eyes seemed to glow in the darkness and they served to calm her down a bit - just a bit. "Something's going to go wrong. With us. And soon."

The chopped up sentences coming out of her mouth made him watch her closely. She never spoke this way. It was always full sentences and proper grammar with her. So, he wove his fingers into her hair, letting the digits thread through. That always calmed her down. "What are you? Psychic or something?"

"Actually," she murmured to herself. "Star has told me that I'm quite gifted in that area."

There was a slight smile playing at his lips and she could feel a smile of her own growing. She couldn't tell him that none of this, none of _them_ , wasn't supposed to be happening. She couldn't tell him that they couldn't be together because they already were; because she was already his and he had already claimed her; because every single part of her was embedded - _ingrained_ \- with his name and his fingerprints (his very identity) were carved and engraved so deeply into _her_. She definitely couldn't tell him that she knew something bad was going to happen because _she_ was the one that he was searching for.

She traced his lips with her thumb and he kissed it.

But, she could tell him a story.

She took his hand from her hair and pushed the fabric of the shirt she wore - _his_ shirt - aside to place his hand onto the flesh over her heart. She needed to feel his pulse right over her heart. She needed _him_ to feel it. "Our heartbeats match," she began steadily. "Every third beat."

The hand cupping her bottom squeezed a bit and he hugged her closer. "That's good, right?"

It was very good. But, not for _them_. It was not good for them, at all.

Nonetheless, she continued with a bit of a smile. "Do you know what star crossed lovers are?" When he shook his head, she continued. "They're lovers who are thwarted by misfortune. Lovers who care for each other, are meant to be together, who love each other immensely, but their circumstances pit them apart. Unfavored by the stars."

"Ill fated," he said.

She nodded, but she didn't continue until after a moment because his eyes were so incredibly distracting. "Long ago, when the earth was first formed, there were only two humans to roam the earth. Their names were Mikayel and Malika. They were the only two on earth, so of course, they soon became lovers. It seemed that they spent so much time together that their heartbeats melded to form one beat. One day, Malika went wandering alone and came across another man - Eto. She was surprised because she was sure that there were only two people on the earth - her and her mate, Mikayel."

"Did she fall in love with the other man?"

He was so smart that she didn't even have to tell him the whole story. She nodded and placed her own hand onto his bare chest and over his heart.

_1\. 2. 3._

"Mikayel didn't have to see them together to know that Malika had fallen for another. He felt it. The beat was off. So, he placed a curse onto them and onto every generation of lovers. From that day on, anyone who fell deep enough into love in order to have their heartbeats match were destined for disaster."

"Ill fated," he repeated quietly. "Mikayel was a selfish one, wasn't he?"

She let a smile slide onto her face. "I suppose so."

"It's not very fair, though. Is it?"

"He still allowed people to fall in love."

"Only to have them pulled away once their heartbeats matched up." He held her closer. "It's not fair, is it?"

She shook her head because it wasn't fair that he was going to be ripped from her ( _every single part of her_ ). It wasn't fair that they were born into different worlds. It wasn't fair that their heartbeats matched. Soon, the beat would be off. The rhythm would be off. And so would she.

_1\. 2. 3._

"It isn't."

They watched each other for some time, their hands over each other's hearts, and his arm around her with his hand cupping her bottom. "I heard it a while ago," he said as he took her hand from over his heart and placed a kiss into the middle of her palm. "Our heartbeats."

For some reason, she wasn't surprised.

"Actually, I felt it," he corrected as he placed her hand back over his heart. "Do you think that's us?" he asked before she could ask him what he meant. "Do you think that we're ill fated because our heartbeats match? Because of that curse that selfish man cast?"

She nodded because she did. She believed it because it was happening right now. They were going through that curse that selfish man cast. They were ill fated. They were not favored by the stars.

He looked offended. "That's not us, Rachel. We're not star crossed, especially not because our heartbeats match. So many people," he began in a murmur as he studied her entire face. His eyes jumped from her lips, to her nose, to her cheeks, chin, eyes, and forehead alternatively as if he didn't know where to look. "They wish they that could have a fragment of what we have. That man, he should have been happy that he had the chance to experience something like that and let someone else have a chance to do the same. Instead, he acted like a child. Do you think that I'm going to let some stupid curse that a selfish man cast because his heart got broken take you away from me?"

She opened her mouth.

"I'm not, just in case you're wondering."

A laugh escaped her despite the grief she felt. "Silly boy, you didn't even let me answer your question."

The hand over her heart moved to push aside both sides of her shirt ( _his_ shirt), leaving her completely open and bare for him - only him. When he gently and briefly held a breast before his hand slid down to caress her side and stomach, a sigh slipped through her nostrils.

_1\. 2. 3._

_Only_ _him._

"You can't just denounce legends," she teased. "The gods will hear."

"I don't give a damn what the gods hear," he declared as he continued to massage her side and stomach. "Aren't you going to tell me to watch my mouth?"

His smile was all too contagious. So, she allowed one of her own to grow and shook her head. "Not tonight."

His smile grew a bit as he watched her. Then, after a few more moments of massaging, his hand left her side to thread his fingers through her hair once again. "I don't care what anyone hears or has to say," he told her as their foreheads met. "We'll be fine. Okay?"

She nodded and their noses brushed. "Okay."

At that, he took her face into his hand and drew her into a slow kiss that she melted into almost immediately. He let her face go and began to pull the sleeve of the shirt she wore down each shoulder and each arm. When he was finally rid of the shirt, her fingers lost themselves in his hair and he hugged her close. "Say it again," he spoke into her mouth.

"I love you," she told him and he reclaimed her lips. There was not a bit of hesitation nor an inkling of fear this time because she loved him. _She_ did. _Raven_. Not _Rachel_.

And so, Raven let him take care of her and let him take his time with her that night, just as he always did. She let him take his time in making sure that she knew that everything was fine and would continue to be. And she believed him.

_**.** _

It was at a marketplace that he had found her. Honestly, if anyone was going to find her, he wouldn't have advised them to place their bets _here_. But, there she was speaking amiably with a merchant as if she _belonged_ there. She looked so relaxed and at ease in this crowded place as if _these_ were her people.

Now he understood why she had been so hard to find. Her hair was different. Now, it was jet black and pulled back into a taut bun. Not only that, but she was even smiling. It was a small smile, but it was a real one. They were such a minuscule changes, but they made a worlds of a difference. At least, they would have made a worlds of a difference to anyone else.

Those eyes would always give her away to him.

With a wave and a smile, she bid the merchant goodbye and began making her way through the crowd. Soon enough, she met with a young man, a _peasant farm boy_ , at that, who had the _audacity_ to take her hand as they spoke. Strangely enough, she didn't seem to mind. In fact, her smile grew a bit.

"A peasant farm boy, Princess? _Really?_ "

Then, the boy placed a kiss onto her forehead before he began leading her deeper into the market. As if that wasn't enough, her smile just grew and grew as she followed after him.

"Humph. Found you."

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! I'm so sorry to announce this after an impromptu hiatus, but unfortunately, I've lost every bit of inspiration I once possessed for this story. I can't say that I won't be updating ever again, but at the moment, it really seems unlikely. I'm so sorry to everyone who was into this story!

The Runaway - Part V

* * *

_He was a peasant farm boy. She was a runaway who didn't even know how to be a proper runaway. Together, they were going to find the princess._

* * *

Every morning, Raven would wake up in his arms. He always held her close and during the chilly morning hours, it was his body that kept her warm. She would always wake up to kisses in her hair, or onto her cheek, or her back and shoulders. Sometimes she would even wake up to a massage, but she _always_ woke up in his arms. She also always woke up to a flower. A new one every day. Some would be close in family or even the same color, but the flowers never repeated themselves. This was a schedule that she'd immediately become accustomed to as soon as it had been instated. So, one could only imagine how strange she felt to wake up this morning to find neither Richard nor a flower.

With a short yawn, she sat up and fisted the fabric of the sheet covering her in a hand to keep it from falling as she looked around their empty tent. As much as it pained her, and she knew that it pained him as well, they left Jump. It was she who requested that they should leave the city. _The princess isn't here,_ she told him. They would find her elsewhere. It hurt to tell him that. It hurt to lie to him. The pain only grew worse when he nodded and began to pack.

He would do anything she asked him to do and they both knew it - but this knowledge was causing her to suffer. The fact that she was in love with him made the pain worse. If you love someone, you would never lie to them - not if you really loved them. Not unless it was for a surprise or a secret that would make them happy, but this was neither. This secret wouldn't make him happy. It wasn't even making her happy and she was the one benefitting from it. She was the one being given shelter, food, and love. She was the one being taken care of physically, mentally, and emotionally on a daily basis. And it was selfish of her to allow this to happen.

She combed a hand through her hair and it got tangled. She was going to have to replace the dye soon. The dark color wasn't fading, but it was making her hair heavy. Was this how it was going to be? Would she have to constantly dye her hair if she was going to stay with him? But she knew that ' _if_ ' wasn't an option. It wasn't that she had nowhere to go because she could just up and leave like she did home, but because she could not up and leave _him_. Not him. He would be fine without her, but she-

She scoffed as she watched her hair. She loved her hair and thought that it was beautiful, but she loved him more. So much more. She ran away to prove her independence only to become attached and latch onto a peasant farm boy.

"Pathetic," she spoke before she tore her hand out of her hair. She needed to find out where he was. As much as she liked the flowers, she loved him a lot more and needed to know if he was okay. Quickly, she dressed herself and tied her hair up. Once she was prepared, she grabbed her satchel and made her way out of the tent only to meet with a familiar face. Too familiar. "Xavier," she gasped.

Xavier sucked his teeth with a frown. "Hey, now. I thought I told you to call me 'X'."

Raven's heartbeat doubled. What was _he_ doing here? It was quite obvious _why_ he was here. She just wanted to know why it was _him_. She never minded him and he was a good conversationalist, but he was dangerous. Why was _Xavier_ sent to find _her_?

"I bet you're wondering what I'm doing here." If it weren't for the situation, Raven would have smiled and told him that he was correct. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked with a grin. "I'm here to bring you home!"

The smile didn't work on her. "Who sent you? The only way that you're able to go on missions is if someone of the royal family sent you."

He held a finger up and waved it. "Ah, ah, ah," he chided. "That's classified information, Sunshine."

"Don't call me that."

His brows jumped and he whistled. "Wooow," he drawled out. "Time away from home sure has made you bold, hasn't it? I guess I have to give you a little present for growing some balls, don't I?" He looked from side to side, then leaned in as if to tell her a secret. "If I were you, I'd watch my back as soon as I stepped foot onto that estate."

Her brows knitted. What was that supposed to mean?

Before she could open her mouth and ask, he took a step back and folded his hands behind his back. "That's all I'm going to say. I wasn't even supposed to tell you that much. You better be glad that I like you so much."

She crossed her arms. "How kind of you."

"I'm glad to see that while you've grown bold your charm hasn't left you," he quipped before he began to watch her closely. "Speaking of changes. I've got to say that you really did throw me off. I almost didn't recognize you with your hair in that color, but I must admit that it looks pretty good. Not as good as your violet hair, though. Does he like it?"

"Does 'who' like what?"

"That peasant farm boy you've been shacking up with," he said and Raven's heart fell. "Does he like your hair that color? Or does he not know about your real hair color?"

Raven's jaw almost fell slack. Her breathing was threatening to stutter and become caught in her throat. She clenched her fists at her side in an attempt to keep her temper in check. "How long have you been following me?"

"Long enough to know that you get a pretty little flower every morning."

Raven almost ran right then and there. Xavier was _dangerous_. He was quick, swift, agile, and intelligent which was why he also doubled as an assassin if the occasion and the price called for it. He was only able to be sent after the most dangerous of criminals and rivals of the royal family by members of the royal family. Raven didn't have one dangerous bone in her body. She needed to get away. No, she needed to find Richard. She needed to send him away. She needed to do _something_.

Xavier gave a sigh and he frowned. "Don't go making those sad puppy faces, Raven. Do you think I want to do this? I wasn't lying when I said that I liked you, but if I don't do this I lose my job and possibly my head." He smiled. "Could you imagine how many lady friends I'd lose without this face and a head?"

"Where is he?"

Xavier's smile fell and with a sigh, he stepped and bowed with a flourish of his hand as if he were displaying something. "Right this way, milady."

Even when he was visibly distressed, he managed to be dramatic. Hesitantly, Raven finally stepped out of the tent and followed the direction of his hand to see Richard sitting on the forest ground, tied up, and his hands and feet were bound. As he struggled, everything he said was muffled by the bandana over his mouth. She imagined that he was swearing up a storm.

_"Watch your mouth."_

_"You sound like my mother."_

"Now, he was a tricky one," Xavier began contemplatively and Richard stopped in his struggling to look at her. Her heart stopped. "I thought that waking up so early would have slowed him down, but he's actually a pretty good fighter. It took a while, but I got him."

Raven swallowed hard as Richard watched her. Normally, those bright blue eyes of his were warm and kind. But now, they were hard, cold, and directed to her. The harshness and coldness of his eyes were meant for her and it was something that she was not used to. Not with him. She raised a foot to approach him.

"Take another step and my buddy over there kills him."

A gasp escaped her at the mere prospect and she dropped her foot. Finally, she noticed the man standing behind Richard.

Xavier sighed and she looked to him. He was frowning again. "I told you that I didn't want to do this, didn't I? It's either you go and he stays or the both of you go."

Raven already knew the choice that she would make. It was the choice that she had to make if she wanted to keep Richard alive. She looked down to her feet. "Will you tell them who he is?" she asked quietly so that Richard couldn't hear, but loud enough for Xavier to hear.

"I'd be in big trouble if I didn't."

"They wouldn't kill him. Would they?"

"I wouldn't put it past them."

She winced and swallowed hard. She shook her head at the ground. "He didn't- he didn't know," she choked out as the tears began to pool at the corners of her eyes. "It's not his fault, X. None of this is."

Xavier released a heavy sigh and Raven looked up to find him rolling his eyes up to the sky. He looked past her to watch his friend before taking a step closer. "I won't tell them who he is, okay? _Gods_ ," he groaned. "I can't _stand_ it when girls _cry_ like that. Just- just wipe your face, damn it, and let's go. Say 'good bye', pick a flower, or _whatever_ it is that you crazy kids do."

She felt her heart drop down to the soles of her feet. She couldn't say 'good bye' to him. She couldn't even bear to look at him right now. She didn't want to imagine the look on his face. He was probably _disgusted_ that he'd been with 'the spoiled brat princess' the entire time. She was sure that he hated her.

Without one final glance behind her, Raven left Richard behind and followed after Xavier and his friend.

**_._ **

Richard was furious.

From the very first day of that search, he had the princess. He found her under a table, for goodness' sake, and took her along on his journey to find _her_. He became her friend and she became his as he told her about his family. Now it made sense why she never spoke much about her own, but he _had_ her.

Richard had that princess writhing and gasping under him every single night. He had her jolting at his every touch, had her choking his name out, had her so spent from pleasure that she could barely keep her eyes open until she shivered her way to sleep _in his arms_. He had her falling in love with him and she had him falling right back. He had her telling him how much she loved him and she had him telling her right back. Richard _had_ her. She was _his_ and he didn't know it. Surprisingly enough, this wasn't even why he was so angry.

It didn't take him very long to undo the bindings that kept his ankles together and the bindings that kept his wrists behind his back. He would have undone them earlier, but he waited until they left so that the situation would be safer for them. 'Them' meaning both him _and_ her.

This was part of the real reason behind his anger. Even when he was tied up and gagged because of her, he was watching out for her. Even though she lied, he was still in love with her. It only made sense for his anger to amplify when he actually went and got her back.

It was mid-afternoon when he crept into Xavier's camp. He planned to wait until they fell asleep, but once he caught a glimpse of her, he knew that he needed to get her out of there. All it took was a few quick jabs onto the two men's heads and they were knocked out.

He was pissed. It was more at himself than it was at her because he was _still_ in love with her. He _still_ wanted to protect her. Worst of all, he didn't even want the money anymore. All he wanted was for her to be safe, preferably with him, and sitting on his steed behind him as he took them back to their own camp.

"Richard," she spoke quietly when they finally arrived. It had been a quiet ride back and this was the first thing that either of them had said. He didn't look at her. All she had to do was point those eyes at him and he knew that he would crumble. He thought that she was a spoiled brat princess, but he knew that he did his part in spoiling her as well. "Richard, I'm sorry."

Still, he refused to look at her. Instead, he kept his hands and eyes busy by tending to his horse. "You sound sorry."

"I deserved that."

"You deserve to get sent back to your little palace, too."

He heard her take a sharp breath in and he immediately wanted to run to her, take her into his arms, and apologize. "Please," she began. "Just let me explain-"

He scoffed and finally looked to her. "Let you explain? Explain what? How you lied to me and led me on?!"

"I did _not_ lead you on!" she argued with a stomp of her foot. "Everything I told you, everything I felt for you was real! The only thing that I lied about was my name-!"

"You still lied! You really are a storyteller!"

"Don't you dare try to act so self righteous! If I'd told you my real name, you would have taken me back to that accursed palace and taken your-!"

"That _accursed_ palace?" he hissed as he approached her. He needed to stop interrupting her. He needed to stop cutting her off, but he was so angry. This was not an excuse, but he couldn't help it. "That accursed palace had everything that you wanted in there!"

"Not everything-!"

"Don't you dare give me that shit, Rachel-!"

"Raven!" she interrupted with another stomp of her foot and he started. It took him a moment to realize that he had called her out of name. Her name wasn't 'Rachel'. It was ' _Raven_ '. "You know my name now! Call me by my-!"

"Oh," he began quietly, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "You want to be _honest_ and tell me your name _now_? You want me to call you by your _real_ name _now_? _Now_?"

She felt the bite. It was obvious in her cringe and in the step that she almost took back. "Damn it, Richard," she spat. Had the situation been different, he would have told her to watch her mouth. "Why the hell did you bring me back here if you're not going to listen to me and let me speak?!"

He couldn't answer her honestly. He couldn't tell her that it was because he was still in love with her. He couldn't tell her that it was because he couldn't trade her in for the reward. She meant so much more to him than that. For some reason, this spiked his anger up. "Why the hell should I listen to you?! You're just a spoiled brat who ran away from home!"

She took a step back with wide eyes. He could see her struggling to swallow and he immediately regretted his words. Before he could say anything, she turned and for the first time, she went into the other side of the tent.

That was the first fight that they had. It wasn't full of petty bantering or silly unmeant threats. It was a real argument. He felt absolutely horrible, especially when he heard her quiet sobs. He wanted to go to her then. He wanted to comfort her and wipe the tears away as he apologized. He wanted to hold her close and cradle her in his arms as she fell asleep, only to have her wake up to another flower.

But he couldn't do that. His pride wouldn't allow it. So, he mounted his steed and went to distract himself in a nearby town. It didn't work.

When he returned, it was late at night and the tent looked the same as it did when he left. He still felt horrible which really didn't make sense. He had every right to be angry at her. He had every right to be pissed, but there he was crouching in front of her side of the tent looking to apologize. It didn't make sense, but hell, when did love ever make sense?

"Rach- _Raven_ ," he corrected with a wince. "Can we talk?"

There was no response.

"Listen," he tried again. "I'm sorry." Silence. "May I please come in?" Once again, silence was his only response. There wasn't even any ruffling around or breathing to be heard. It was almost as if she'd disappeared.

Or ran away.

Again.

"Holy hell," he muttered to himself as he ran a hand down his face. Tentatively, he raised the door to her side. None of her belongings were there. The moderately sized space didn't even look like it had been inhabited by anyone ever before, even if she was just there a few hours ago. The fact remained that she was gone. She left.

Immediately, he was to his feet and hiked onto his steed. He directed it forward and the great animal whinnied as he followed his master's instructions. Then, very suddenly, Richard tugged on the reins, ordering the horse to stop. The whinny that it gave this time was exasperated to say the least, but Richard didn't care. Where was he going? He didn't know where she went and he wasn't even sure if she'd run away - not that he could blame her if she did. He wasn't exactly a good example of the word 'forgiveness' and it wasn't like he could ask around for her. He didn't want her taken away.

Guilt swarmed him as he looked around the forest. It was hard to see considering how dark it was, but his vision was mostly clouded by the trees and shrubbery surrounding him. He looked up to the night sky a bit helplessly before spotting a bright star. The North Star.

_"Polaris," his father's voice echoed in his head._

_"Polaris?" a young Richard repeated, tasting the word on his tongue._

_"It means 'heavenly'," his father explained as he pointed at the sky. "Some people call it the North Star. Travelers always look to this star for guidance when they are lost. Remember this: the North Star will always lead you home."_

"The North Star will always lead you home," Richard repeated to himself. Without a moment of hesitation, he hopped off of the horse and mumbled a short order for him to stay put before hurrying off in the direction of the star. After a moment of actually following that damned star and tripping over tree stumps because he was craning his neck toward the sky the entire time, he finally spotted a small lake. Actually, it may have been more of a pond due to its size.

He looked back up to the sky and judging from the placement of that star, he still had a bit of a ways to go. It looked like that star was leading him to that pond. Far be it from him to disobey the North Star. Determined, he looked back to the pond and began making his way there before he spotted something dark in the body of water. It looked like hair - dark hair.

Even from beyond the grave, his father was leading him.

Cautiously and because he didn't want to disturb her bath, he continued approaching. A branch snapped under his foot and they both jumped. Swiftly, she turned around with eyes wide and full of suspicion. By then, Richard was sure that his father himself had placed that branch there along with that star in the sky. It wasn't as if he could do anything about the disturbance at this point, so he finally closed the distance between himself and the pond as she watched him.

They watched each other for some time, but this wasn't unexpected. What would they say to each other? What _could_ they say to each other? Even with this internal dilemma, he couldn't help but to be suffering another internal dilemma regarding the fact that he couldn't bear to imagine the tears running down those cheeks of hers. Especially if he caused them.

A slight pause hung between them. It wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't pained either. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of her. Suddenly, a feeling of relief ran through him because she didn't back away or try to hide herself from him. Her hair, long and thick as it was, floated and danced around her due to the slight current of the water. Wet and naked shoulders glistened with little drops that slid down to the slight curvature of her breasts. Her skin was pale as always, but seemed to be reflecting the moon above and she glowed. She always glowed more at night. And she was his.

"I'm sorry," they said in unison.

This time, she did back away. She looked surprised. "Why are _you_ sorry? _I'm_ the one who lied to you."

She had every reason to lie. Had she told him the truth from the beginning, he would have taken her and traded her in for that reward money. Without a doubt. He wasn't noble and he didn't feel bad for her. Not when he had met her under that table. "I was completely unfair and unreasonable."

"I can't disagree with that."

He tried to fight it, but the chuckle escaped and there was a tiny smile on her face. It was nice to see that. "I shouldn't have said those things."

"I deserved it."

"Rae-"

"Raven," she interrupted. "My name is Raven. Please, call me by my name."

"Raven," he echoed, tasting it on his tongue. It sounded better. It _tasted_ better, much better than it did when he was so angry. When she nodded in approval, he knew that it held such a sweet taste because this was _her_. He hesitated a bit before crouching down beside the pond. "I thought that you ran away again."

A brow jumped. "Again?" she asked as she cupped water in a hand.

"Your track record doesn't speak well of you."

A corner of her mouth curved up. "Where would I go?" At that, she dipped her hand back into the water, took it out, and poured the water over her shoulder.

Honestly, he was doing quite well before she did that. His eyes followed the trail of drops that glided down the skin of her arm before they returned to the pond. That was when he finally noticed the tips of her hair. They were violet and had dark spirals seeping out of them, floating and swirling into the water like tendrils of thread. Was that her real hair color? "Your hair."

She combed a hand through her hair before picking up a violet tip. "There's no point in hiding it anymore," she said as she watched her hair. "Aren't you going to turn me in? You need the money, don't you? I'll go willingly."

In an instant, he looked up to watch her face. "I'm not going to turn you in."

"Why not?"

"Because I love you."

She seemed to be fighting a smile. "You really are a silly boy."

"I'm sure that we've already established the fact that I'm not a boy." He almost didn't catch it, but there was a slight reddening of her cheeks.

After a moment of what seemed to be deliberation, she let her hair go and met his eyes. His stomach turned. "Tell me," she began. "Would you leave if you were in my position?"

"I just told you that I love you," he replied. "I'm not giving you a reason to leave."

She was still fighting that smile and one of his own grew. Then she began swimming over to him before stopping at the edge of the pond and in front of him. She placed her hands flat on the ground to push herself up and out of the water, showcasing her body, wet and slick, to him as they met face-to-face. "I'll go willingly, Richard."

He called 'bullshit' if the woman didn't know what she was doing. Nevertheless, he shook his head and took her face into his hand. Their foreheads met and she released a sigh. "I'm not going to turn you in."

"Why?" she asked quietly.

"Because I love you."

And their lips met.

The love that they made that night was raw and slow, almost excruciatingly so. In fact, it was so slow that he wouldn't have been surprised if she thought that he was punishing her every time he held her hips down and kept her from quickening the pace. But that wasn't the case, not at all. The pace was so slow because he was sure that he had lost her that night. He speared her with deep, slow thrusts and reveled in her arching back and sudden twitches because he needed to have her feel as desperate as he felt when he was following that star. He was ruthlessly patient with her because she needed to know that he was still willing to take his time with her and love her deeply and thoroughly. Over and over again, he took her until she was reduced to a sweaty mess of involuntary shivers and gasps.

She was back on his side of the tent, the side where she belonged, and tucked underneath him with her legs wrapped around him. It was hot, hotter than their first time together, but he didn't want to let her go just yet. He didn't want to remove himself from her just yet. Her eyes were shut and she was shaking as shuddering gasps and ragged breaths escaped her swollen lips. Every now and then a whimper would slip through.

Gently, he began massaging her scalp and she grabbed for his face with a sudden gasp. By the looks of it, he seemed to have kicked her sensitivity into overdrive, but he understood. She was already sensitive enough and it wasn't like he'd gone easy on her.

He kissed her and she gave into his lips immediately. A feeble sound escaped as she jolted when he began running his free hand along the length of her body, grabbing and feeling her. He should have been going easy on her now, but he couldn't. He could have lost her. It was selfish, yes, but she couldn't be the only selfish one between them.

He grabbed a breast and she broke the kiss with a gasp. As she attempted to gather herself, she continued to jolt before she finally hugged him close and hid her face in his neck. "I'm sorry," she breathed and it was his turn to shiver. "I meant everything that I ever told you. I swear to you, the only thing that I lied about was my name. I love you."

It sounded so good to hear that from her. "Raven," he said and against his neck, he felt those swollen lips turn up into a smile. She really liked when he said her name and that was understandable. She'd been living under another name for so long. He forgot what he was going to say, but he returned the smile. "The name fits you."

"How so?"

"You're kind of flighty like one. You can't stay in one place."

Finally, she looked up to meet his eyes and his stomach turned. "I only ran away once."

"And attempted three more times."

"Don't be so dramatic. It was only two times."

"Bravo."

She chuckled. He smiled at the sight and sound before she kissed him soft and slow. When she pulled away, there was a sad smile on her face. "You need to turn me in."

He did. If it was discovered that he was deliberately hoarding her, he could get jailed or killed. But he would risk that for her. And it was absolutely pathetic. "Like hell I do."

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

"It won't be long before someone finds out what you did to Xavier and that man."

He didn't respond, but he did nod as he released her breast and took a tip of her hair between his fingers to examine it. The violet color was darkened due to the water, but really was showing now that it was dry. He attempted to imagine her with a whole head of violet hair.

"Richard, are you listening to me?"

He met her eyes as he took her left hand into his. Leave it to him to meet the princess under a table and fall in love with her. "You said and I quote, 'It won't be long before someone finds out what you did to Xavier and that man'."

Hesitantly, she nodded before continuing. "You have to turn me in."

"Why? He deserved it."

She fought a smile. " _Richard_."

"I already told you that I'm not turning you in, Raven."

She looked pleased at his use of her name, but that didn't take away from the conflict dancing in her eyes. Apparently, she was so distracted that she didn't even notice him slip that ring onto her finger. "But you have to. Once they find out that you're hoarding me-"

"I'm not hoarding you."

"Richard, they'll kill you and I'll be taken away anyway."

He held her hand for her to see. "That's why we're going to them." Finally, she noticed the band around her finger and her breath hitched a bit as she watched it. When she remained quiet, he shrugged, a bit of a smile playing at his mouth. "If I can't turn you in and make a profit off of you, I might as well turn you into a wife."

Her breathing grew a bit heavy and laborious, and not the good heavy and laborious. This did not sit well with him, at all. "You want me to be your wife?"

He nodded, but he watched her worriedly. "Raven," he began because, evidently, she liked to hear him say her name. "Just breathe-"

She blinked. "Hell, you want to _marry_ me."

He blinked as well. " _You_ just _swore_."

Everything he said and the ring on her finger seemed to click in her mind. She swallowed. "You- you don't hate me."

"Of course not."

"You want me to become your wife- _wife_?"

Although her breathing was still heavy and she still didn't meet his eyes, he did smile. He'd never heard her stutter so much. "I do."

A shuddering gasp escaped her as she watched her hand. "That's what- that's what you say when the- the priest asks you if you'll take the bride as your wife. And you want me to be your _wife_."

Quite honestly, he didn't think that she was even capable of being so flustered. "Raven-"

She grabbed his face and kissed him hard. "Take me again."

He didn't have to be told twice. "Gladly."

 


End file.
